A delayed report on manufactured durable goods showed new orders increased 1.2 percent in December, due mostly to orders for transportation. Excluding transportation, new orders rose just 0.1 percent. Orders for core capital goods, which exclude defense and aircraft and are considered a measure of business investment, dropped unexpectedly by 0.7 percent after a downward […]
Economic indicators of manufacturing activity are strong, though the growth rate is slowing. 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 in our Steel Market Update publications, and therefore will be brief in this […]
Manufacturers in New York State report that business activity improved in February. The general business index of The Empire State Manufacturing survey rose five points to post 8.8 after falling the previous two months. Indexes for new orders and shipments remained strong in February. The index for new orders climbed four points to 7.5, while […]
A strong economy and record profits are stimulating expansion in the U.S. steel industry. Often crediting President Trump for “leveling the playing field” with steel imports, companies like U.S. Steel and Nucor are taking the opportunity to reinvest their windfall in new and upgraded facilities. Adding capacity in a world that is struggling with steel […]
As President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Tom Gibson is the front man for an industry whose views are not always the most popular. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first speaking engagement at […]
As President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Tom Gibson is the front man for an industry whose views are not always the most popular. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first speaking engagement at […]
Manufacturers of foodservice equipment say the Trump administration tariffs on Chinese goods and imported steel and aluminum have raised the cost of materials by 6-15 percent and made it more difficult for American companies to compete. According to a January North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) survey, the tariffs are hurting companies whose […]
Flat rolled steel distributors have been slowly backing away from offering spot prices to their end customers at lower numbers than what was seen a couple of weeks ago. At the same time, these same service centers are reporting difficulties getting those same end user customers to pay higher prices, despite the price increase announcements […]
Flat rolled steel distributors have been slowly backing away from offering spot prices to their end customers at lower numbers than what was seen a couple of weeks ago. At the same time, these same service centers are reporting difficulties getting those same end user customers to pay higher prices, despite the price increase announcements […]
Employment gains were unexpectedly strong in January. The January employment release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) included huge historical revisions. We re-entered our data back to January 2010, but found that revisions extended even further back in time. Net job creation in January as reported by the BLS on Friday was 303,000, […]
Construction is pulling ahead of manufacturing as a job creator, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In January, 296,000 jobs were created in the private sector and 8,000 in government. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. Most of the goods-producing employees work […]
U.S. Steel Corp. plans to restart the No. 1 Electric-Weld Pipe Mill at its Lone Star Tubular Operations—a mill that had been “permanently” idled in 2016 due to the challenging conditions for tubular products created by fluctuating oil prices, reduced rig counts and high levels of imports. “We are encouraged by an improvement in market […]
The new year has gotten off to a positive start for members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), who supply steel products to the HVAC market. Most are optimistic about business, at least in the coming quarter, but comments during their monthly conference call today reflected some disagreement over steel prices. “We […]
Global manufacturing is approaching the stagnation point, says a new survey by J.P. Morgan and IHS Markit. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI fell for the ninth month in January to register 50.7, its lowest reading since August 2016. Trade tension originating with the U.S. was a common theme throughout the IHS Markit PMI reports […]
January got off to a tentative start as steel prices continued to decline, leaving buyers with a cautious perspective on the months ahead. Steel Market Update’s Buyers Sentiment Index shows buyers slightly less optimistic than they were in November. Sentiment factors into buyers’ decision-making about such factors as purchasing, inventory levels, capital investment and hiring. […]
The manufacturing sector expanded in January following a weak December, according to the latest survey of purchasing managers by the Institute for Supply Management. ISM’s January PMI rose 2.3 points to 56.6 with new orders, production and inventories growing at a faster rate last month. A reading above 50 indicates growth. New Orders led the […]
Key Market Indicators in January, indicators of the present situation, remained strong, but trends deteriorated to the weakest level in two years. This report summarizes 36 data streams that we believe critically describe the state of and provide forward guidance for the steel market. Due to the government shutdown, 13 of the 36 indicators were […]
President Trump signed an executive order today intended to boost the use of American-made iron, steel and other manufactured products in infrastructure projects by adding pressure on private and public sector entities that receive federal financial assistance. Called “Strengthening Buy American Preferences for Infrastructure Projects,” the order directs agency heads to “encourage recipients of new […]
Two manufacturing associations came out with opposing views on Wednesday to a new bill that would limit presidential power for the execution of trade measures under Section 232. The Bicameral Trade Authority Act of 2019, introduced in the House and Senate, would require congressional approval before the president could take trade actions, like tariffs and […]
Whether the mills succeed in collecting the $40 increase on flat rolled they announced in recent days depends a lot on how strong demand proves to be in the first quarter. Such price hikes are common in January as the mills anticipate a pickup in business following the seasonal slowdown in the fourth quarter. Service […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our mid-January flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis. One of the areas of interest to SMU was how manufacturing companies and service centers would peg spot pricing coming out of the distributors to their end customers. Prior to the New Year, just below 75 percent of the […]
The growth of China’s economy has slowed partly as a result of the tariff war with the United States, and China may be in a mood for serious negotiation. Once each quarter, we publish the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. Many analysts don’t believe these self-serving […]
There has been a downward reversal in raw materials prices in the last month. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through January of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 months/12 months changes and tells us that price movements have been negative for all materials except […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The dust hasn’t settled yet from the partial government shutdown that ended Friday night. Already, though, thoughts turn to the issues that divide us as a country. As a trade person, I naturally focus on that issue. You do […]
Steel Dynamics is excited about its recently announced plans for a new steel mill in the Southwest. After an outstanding year, breaking records for shipments, sales, net income and cash flow, CEO Mark Millett is looking forward to filling a steel void in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. Steel Dynamics hopes to announce a site […]
Economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, will make another appearance as a keynote presenter for Steel Market Update’s premier event, the 2019 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 26-28 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. He will offer an insightful overview of U.S. economic trends and their implications for the steel industry. […]
Another hectic day in the steel industry – at least for me. Steel buyers seemed to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the market at the moment, but this too will change (it always does). At the moment, I still have our Price Momentum Indicator pointing toward “Lower” spot prices over the next 30 days. […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Scrap prices in the U.S. fell $30 /lt m/m in January, the first time since 2006 that prices have declined in the month. The fall was also the largest December to January decrease in at least two decades for obsolete grades. The unusual decline occurred because supply outpaced demand […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: New 232 Lawsuit A new complaint against the United States was filed on Thursday, Jan. 17, by three U.S. importers of Turkish steel to contest the doubling of tariffs on Turkish steel into the United States. The plaintiffs are […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: New 232 Lawsuit A new complaint against the United States was filed on Thursday, Jan. 17, by three U.S. importers of Turkish steel to contest the doubling of tariffs on Turkish steel into the United States. The plaintiffs are […]