Global manufacturing contracted in June with manufacturing indices falling as trade tensions and tariffs impacted business conditions. At 49.4, the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI contracted to its lowest rate in six-and-a-half years. International trade continued to weaken with export orders falling for the tenth consecutive month. The majority of countries in the June survey […]
Bellville Tube Company has a new and, as yet, undisclosed owner. The manufacturer of steel tubulars for the commercial construction, industrial, and oil and gas industries will be reopened by a U.S.-based private investment group during the third quarter of 2019. The facility is expected to expand to full annual capacity of 130,000 tons and […]
A note this morning from one of my scrap friends: “Btw, we are not getting too excited just yet, the scrap market is clearly beginning to bottom a bit. Should strengthen a little in August.” I am getting mixed messages on lead times, but I think the consensus is lead times have moved out […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of the Key Market Indicators shows a slight improvement in both our view of the present situation and in the trend of the indicators in June. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail during the month. In it we […]
Global steel production hit an all-time high in April and that record was smashed in May. Global steel production in April achieved a new high annual rate of 1.880 billion metric tons (Mt). Production surged in May to an annual rate of 1.953 billion Mt. Capacity is calculated to be 2.4 billion Mt and capacity […]
Worthington Industries, Inc., reported net earnings of $153.5 million for its 2019 fiscal year ended May 31, down 21 percent from earnings of $194.8 million in the prior year. Earnings were hurt by inventory holding losses from declining steel prices, among other factors. Sales for the year totaled $3.76 billion, up from $3.58 billion last […]
The Precision Metalforming Association says metalforming companies continue to be concerned about future business conditions. The May report, sampling 100 metalforming companies, shows little change in their confidence that orders and general business activity will increase. “PMA’s monthly Business Conditions Report reveals that metalforming manufacturers continue to show concern about business activity,” said PMA President […]
Manufactured durable goods orders declined in May by 1.3 percent to $243.4 billion, reported the U.S. Census Bureau. Orders have fallen in three of the last four months and the decline was steeper than expected in May. Civilian aircraft orders were to blame for much of the decline, plummeting 28.2 percent on difficulties at Boeing […]
As I expected, Nucor came out with a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase on flat rolled this afternoon. This is the first Nucor price increase since Feb. 20, 2019. Shortly after the Nucor announcement, USS/POSCO followed with an increase letter of their own and then NLMK USA put out a letter identifying the minimum […]
By CRU Analysts Kevin Bai and Ruilin Wang Chinese economic stimulus in 2018 and 2019 will add a total of 21 Mt to Chinese domestic steel demand, most of which is expected to manifest in 2019. Including this, total Chinese domestic steel demand is now expected to grow at around 3 percent this year. Other […]
One thing is certain in this crazy steel market, service centers are taking their spot prices lower and lower as each week passes. Manufacturing companies are almost unanimous in their view that flat rolled steel distributors are decreasing their spot offers. We saw 93 percent of the manufacturing companies responding to last week’s SMU flat […]
The construction segment of the market is booming. This is what we heard from the HARDI steel conference call we participated in last week, and it is what we heard from many companies over the two days SMU was in New York City earlier this week. Whenever we travel, one of the things we always […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran Hundreds of steel executives from around the world gathered in New York City this week to hold meetings and learn about what will drive the steel markets in the second half of the year. The CRU Steel Briefing on Monday, June 17, provided attendees with our views on sheet […]
More than 700 executives are registered with slightly more than two months to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center (www.gicc.com) will be the […]
More than 700 executives are registered with slightly more than two months to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center (www.gicc.com) will be the […]
Last night, Steel Market Update participated in the annual Bank of America Merrill Lynch dinner hosted by metals and mining analyst Timna Tanners. We also spoke at the CRU Steel Briefing a little earlier in the day. Here are some of the key takeaways from those meetings. Mill Lead Times Short Flat rolled steel mill […]
Most indicators of manufacturing activity are still positive, but if trends continue growth could become negative by late summer, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We have reported on most of these separately […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged 26 points in June to register -8.6 for its first negative reading in two years. Manufacturing growth in New York did an about face from May’s six-month high with the new orders index plummeting 22 points and shipments 7 points. The employment index fell to -3.5, while the average […]
I have been in New York City where one of the competitors of Steel Market Update was conducting a steel conference. There were a number of satellite mini-conferences surrounding the NYC event. I attended three of them: the CRU Steel Briefing, which attracted about 100-150 executives; the Bank of America Merrill Lynch dinner drawing a […]
Please feel free to forward this issue of Steel Market Update to your customers, suppliers or executives within your company. The 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center. The dates for the conference are: Aug. 26-28, 2019. The convention center and the Gateway Hotels (Marriott Gateway, Renaissance and […]
Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers reading tonight’s issue. I will be in New York City participating in the CRU Steel Briefing, which will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan on Monday afternoon. Later that evening I will be attending the Bank of America Merrill Lynch steel dinner hosted by Timna […]
2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award – Frequently Asked Questions Question: What is the purpose of the award? Answer: To recognize the contributions being made by younger people in various roles in manufacturing, fabrication, steel distribution, steel mills, trading companies – essentially any company that handles mild carbon (coil, sheet or plate) or automotive steels. Steel […]
2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award – Frequently Asked Questions Question: What is the purpose of the award? Answer: To recognize the contributions being made by younger people in various roles in manufacturing, fabrication, steel distribution, steel mills, trading companies – essentially any company that handles mild carbon (coil, sheet or plate) or automotive steels. Steel […]
West Coast Steel & Processing U.S.A. has acquired a 68,175-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chino, Calif., for $10.7 million. West Coast Steel divisions include SteelCo USA, Great Pacific Elbow, Mission Metals and Deluxe Building Products. Located at 13900 Sycamore Way, the property will serve as SteelCo USA’s sixth facility in the Inland Empire. Built in 1986, […]
Our website has been updated with the correct complete agenda and speakers, and we have added more detailed information about the SMU NexGen Leadership Award. We have also updated the sponsors and exhibitors logos for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference on our website. We have updated the names of the companies attending (those showing […]
A higher percentage of manufacturing companies and flat rolled steel service centers are reporting distributors as continuing to lower spot pricing to their customers. We have now passed through the mythical “capitulation” level and we will explain what that means in a moment. First, we saw 79 percent of the manufacturing companies responding to our […]
We intentionally pack the third day of our conference with powerhouse programs and speakers. This year will be no different and we highly encourage attendees to remain through the final agenda item on the program. 7:00 AM – Doors Open at the Georgia International Convention Center Coffee, soft drinks and pastries will be available in […]
2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference – Day 3 Written by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update RE: 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, Aug. 26-28, 2019 – Location: Georgia International Convention Center, Atlanta, GA In Thursday’s issue of this past week, I laid out the first-day agenda and speakers, then on Sunday I did […]
The rate of job creation in the U.S. in 2019 is slowing, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Net job creation in May was an unexpectedly low result of 75,000. To make matters worse, March was revised down by 36,000 and April was revised down by […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a dismal employment report for May with the U.S. economy seeing a net gain of just 75,000 nonfarm jobs. Last month, 90,000 jobs were created in the private sector while government lost 15,000 positions. To put these figures in perspective, they should be considered over a longer time frame, […]