Durable goods orders fell 4.4 percent in October, heralding a weak start to the fourth quarter and a softening in business investment. The drop was the steepest monthly decline since July 2017. Volatile aircraft orders drove most of the decline, with commercial aircraft orders diving 21.4 percent and defense aircraft orders plummeting 59.3 percent. Orders […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel market trends. During the process, we reviewed demand, lead times, negotiations, service center spot pricing, steel pricing and a myriad of other important issues of interest to buyers and sellers of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate […]
The North American auto industry is urging the White House to drop the Section 232 tariffs before the official signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). During testimony last week before the International Trade Commission, the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the American Automotive Policy Council asked the administration to exempt […]
Steel buyers can be fickle people. They are tasked with keeping their company in product, and that those purchases be competitively priced at the time they are used. This is a daunting task when markets ebb and flow, and even more difficult when the government decides to become a major player in determining who will […]
The North American Steel Alliance, the service center industry’s top buying co-op, has recruited two new members: Texas Iron & Metal and Beaver Steel Services, bringing NASA’s total membership to 124 companies. Texas Iron & Metal in Houston is a family owned company that offers a selection of steel and pipe products to the agriculture, […]
Manufacturing in New York State strengthened more than expected in November. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business index rose two points to 23.3 as new orders and shipments showed moderate growth. Forty-one percent of respondents reported that general business conditions had improved over the month, while 18 percent reported that conditions had worsened. Manufacturers […]
Steel Facing Stiff Competition from Other Products This article is regularly published for our Premium users, but we decided to share it with our entire readership this month. If you are interested in upgrading to a Premium subscription, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475. Steel is becoming less competitive compared to aluminum, plastic and wood. […]
Steady demand in the HVAC sector is offsetting concerns about declining steel prices, leaving members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International hopeful about their prospects in 2019, reported HARDI members during the trade group’s monthly conference call on Tuesday. The distributors of galvanized steel products have seen prices slide by about $5/cwt since […]
Imagine being told to create a steel mill out of an empty field in Arkansas. How would you even begin? That was the challenge presented to Lenore Trammell, Chief Compliance Officer at Big River Steel. Moving from Detroit to the rural South, Trammell plunged herself into securing construction contracts and building a team that could […]
Economic activity expanded across the United States with the majority of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts reporting modest to moderate growth in the September-October period, according to the Fed’s Beige Book released late last month. However, several Districts indicated that firms faced rising materials and shipping costs, uncertainties over the trade environment and difficulties finding […]
I am back in my office for a few weeks after having just gone to the Pittsburgh offices of CRU. I continue to be amazed at the strength of the people CRU has hired both in the United States and elsewhere around the world. They are very supportive of the Steel Market Update business, and […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
The Census Bureau provides monthly data on total U.S. manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders, as well as data for individual industries, including steel products. The Census Bureau data provides a useful reality check on data from steel industry trade groups such as the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Metals Service Center Institute. […]
Construction is experiencing strong growth led by nonresidential building and infrastructure expenditures. On Nov. 1, the Commerce Department released the Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures data for September. The growth of total construction on a rolling 12-month basis year over year increased from 2.1 percent in January to 4.2 percent in September. On a […]
Net job creation in October totaled 250,000 positions. Construction and manufacturing gains were both strong, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 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 in manufacturing and […]
Labor productivity grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018. The average of the last three quarters has been 0.3 percent. Unit labor costs increased 1.2 percent year over year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Unit labor costs and productivity changes are reported quarterly […]
The employment situation in the United States is excellent and continues to improve, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Rising employment and wages are the main contributor to GDP growth because personal consumption accounts for almost 70 percent of GDP. Steel consumption is related to GDP; therefore, […]
Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium-level article with its Executive-level members this issue. For more information on upgrading to a Premium subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Economic indicators of manufacturing activity remain strong. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Commentators and administration officials have filled the airwaves with speculation about the future course of the U.S.-China “trade war” over the last few weeks. Today, I provide a brief assessment of where this might be going. Memories of Lenin’s […]
Metals distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. reported a revenue gain of 44.6 percent year-over-year to $1.25 billion for the third quarter of 2018. Revenue was up 18.2 percent compared to the second quarter, driven by an increased average selling price and higher volume shipped. Net income attributable to Ryerson Holding Corp. was $77.5 million for the […]
Global trade protectionism and political uncertainty weighed heavily on manufacturing in October. Manufacturing slowed to its lowest level in almost two years, according to the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The headline index registered 52.1, down from 52.2 in September. Weaker increases in new business and a contraction of new export orders muted production growth during […]
Except for plate, which held its own at around $1,000 a ton, steel prices generally weakened further in October, continuing a decline that began this summer. Steel Market Update data in the table below shows that the benchmark hot rolled coil price dipped below $800 per ton after sliding by about $45 during the month. […]
Construction spending hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.329 trillion and grew 5.5 percent for nine months of 2018, with continued year-to-date gains for major public and private categories, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that while demand for construction should remain […]
Manufacturing activity continues to be strong, according to the latest ISM Report on Business, although slowing its pace of growth as it enters the fourth quarter. The October PMI declined 2.1 percentage points from September to register 57.7 percent. Most of the components of the PMI are trending at a slower rate. The new orders […]
Construction spending hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.329 trillion and grew 5.5 percent for nine months of 2018, with continued year-to-date gains for major public and private categories, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that while demand for construction should remain […]
Manufacturing activity continued at a healthy clip in October, although slipping on the MNI Chicago Business Barometer. The index dropped 2.0 points to 58.4 in October and plunged 10.7 points year-over-year to its lowest reading since December 2014. The decrease may signal a return to more normal levels after a year of particularly strong performance, […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
MSC Smart Steel® from Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) is one of 35 finalists for the 2019 Automotive News PACE Awards. The prestigious PACE program honors automotive suppliers for advanced levels of technical achievement, superior innovation and business excellence. “MSC Smart Steel is a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low carbon […]