Orders for Class 8 trucks set a record in July. FTR Transportation Intelligence reports orders jumped 25 percent to over 52,250 units last month in what is normally the weakest month of the year for order intake. Five of the highest order months ever occurred in 2018, said FTR. Tight capacity in the face of […]
Caterpillar says it will raise prices due to U.S. tariff measures despite expecting a stronger profit outlook for the year. The major exporter of construction, mining and energy-related equipment estimates recently imposed tariffs will cost the company $100 million to $200 million in the second half of 2018—about 3 percent of its full-year profits. Strong […]
The U.S. economy created 157,000 net jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 248,000 in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released on Friday. This decline was partly mitigated by revisions to May and June, which improved by 24,000 and 4,000, respectively. Conditions remain very positive in the U.S. […]
In June 2018, 12,751,000 people were employed in manufacturing and 7,242,000 in construction. Construction employment has grown by 4.4 percent in the last 12 months, while jobs in manufacturing have increased by 2.6 percent. In the last three months, however, manufacturing employment has gained almost twice the number of jobs as construction, according to Steel […]
Editor’s note: The following July 30 CRU Insight was authored by John Johnson, CEO of CRU China. CRU believes that China is destined for a new phase of steel industry consolidation that could lead to a fundamental change in China’s steel industry landscape, with ramifications reaching far beyond China. In 2016, the Chinese government published […]
As a multinational business with a plant in the United States, should NLMK USA have a right to import slabs tariff-free from its parent company in Russia over the objections of domestic steel producers? The Trump administration maintains that steel imports, including Russian slabs, are a threat to the U.S. steel industry and thus national […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Things are hectic these days. While the House has gone on recess until after Labor Day, the Senate is taking a mere two weeks off. Before taking their shortened break, the Senate passed the Miscellaneous […]
Earnings week for the steel industry revealed trade was foremost on the minds of steel executives. The steel mills expressed their approval of the administration’s tariff action that has boosted steel pricing and, along with higher demand, earnings for the second quarter of 2018. • U.S. Steel Corp. CEO David Burritt was a strong advocate […]
Steel Market Update celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month. In August 2008, John Packard incorporated the Steel Market Update newsletter and began selling subscriptions to those interested in learning more about what was happening in the flat rolled steel industry. As a steel veteran with more than 30 years of sales experience, Packard believed he […]
Steel Market Update celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month. In August 2008, John Packard incorporated the Steel Market Update newsletter and began selling subscriptions to those interested in learning more about what was happening in the flat rolled steel industry. As a steel veteran with more than 30 years of sales experience, Packard believed he […]
There are no clouds on manufacturing’s horizon. Economic indicators of manufacturing activity are virtually all positive for the remainder of 2018, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of nine data sources that describe the state of manufacturing in the United States. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications, […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Boosted by the Trump tariffs, the high price of steel in the U.S. tends to mask other issues. Notably, strained credit limits. While mills report record profits, some of their customers report cash flow issues that threaten their very viability. Steel Market Update canvassed the market this week and gathered the following observations from steel […]
The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing ISM Report on Business expanded for the 111th month in July. The PMI registered a solid 58.1, although decreasing 2.1 points from the June reading of 60.1 percent. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally […]
June construction spending declined 1.1 percent after an upwardly revised record level in May, according to government data analyzed by the Associated General Contractors of America. However, the first half of 2018 was marked by widespread gains in public and private investment spurred by recent tax and regulatory reform. “There appears to be plenty of […]
The rate of expansion for global manufacturing slowed in July, according the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The index reached its lowest reading in a year at 52.7, down from 53.0 in June. “The manufacturing upturn has lost sizeable momentum since the start of the year. However, with final demand growth having firmed in recent […]
A reminder that Steel Market Update readers, as well as those who have attended a past SMU Steel Summit or a training workshop, have a unique opportunity to participate in a webinar about the North American steel market conducted by our parent company, CRU. The webinar entitled, “Mid-Year Update on the North American Steel Market,” […]
July saw rising steel prices leveling out, prompting Steel Market Update to move its Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral. The price of hot rolled averaged around $910 and cold rolled around $1,000 a ton for the month. With prices for scrap seeing only modest changes from week to week, it’s difficult to predict what steel […]
Registrations continue for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We have broken through 800 and are nearing 825 registered steel and manufacturing executives as of Tuesday, July 31, 2018. To put that into perspective, we had 534 people registered as of July 31, 2017, and we ended up with 650 total attendees, which was a […]
China’s share of global steel production is setting a new high each month. Global steel production was down by 1.1 percent in June, but May’s production hit an all-time high and June was the second highest month ever, according to the latest Steel Market Update analysis of World Steel Association data. In three months through […]
We have an exceptional new steel training event coming up in September as Steel Market Update works with AK Steel to conduct our first Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop. The dates of this unique opportunity to see both a fully integrated steel mill and the AK Steel Research […]
We are now 29 days away from the start of the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We will have more than 800 executives from manufacturing, steel distribution, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors as well as companies who supply those industries. One of the ways Steel Market Update is able to keep costs down for […]
We have an exceptional new steel training event coming up in September as Steel Market Update works with AK Steel to conduct our first Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop. The dates of this unique opportunity to see both a fully integrated steel mill and the AK Steel Research […]
Durable goods orders, orders for items expected to last three years or more, increased 1.0 percent in June to $251.9 billion, according to the latest data from Commerce. The increase follows two consecutive monthly decreases. Transportation equipment orders led the gain with civilian aircraft recouping some of its 11.6 percent loss in May by jumping […]
I understand from steel buyers there are some mills looking for business – especially on galvanized. There has been some very minor slippage ($10/ton) with some mills’ base pricing. Not enough to drive numbers lower than what we published on Tuesday. There are some service centers getting aggressive with coated steel spot pricing to their […]
Steel Dynamics reported net sales of $3.1 billion and net income of $362 million for the second quarter of 2018, more than doubling its year-over-year income. First-quarter 2018 net sales totaled $2.6 billion with net income of $228 million. “Our second-quarter 2018 income from operations increased 55 percent sequentially to a record $502 million, and […]
It’s a beautiful day here in Minnesota, and here I am looking out the window at a wonderful lake. Yet, I’m working all day. Oh well… We did a quick analysis of the attendees registered for our conference. I thought potential attendees might be interested in what was discovered: 44% – Manufacturing Companies35% – Service […]
Cleveland Cliffs reported consolidated revenues of $714 million for the second quarter of 2018. Revenues jumped 52 percent from first quarter revenue of $471 million. Net income for the quarter was $165 million, which included a $64 million loss from discontinued operations, primarily associated with the sale of the company’s Asia Pacific Iron Ore assets. Adjusted […]
While manufacturers generally reported favorable business conditions all over the United States, companies in all the Federal Reserve Districts pointed to Trump administration tariffs as cause for concern, according to the Fed’s July 18 Beige Book report. Economic activity continued to expand across the United States, with 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts reporting […]
As of this weekend, we have registered 775 executives in manufacturing, steel distribution, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors, transportation companies, as well as suppliers to these industries, for our SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are now 125 above last year’s record. With 35 days to go we should reach, and hopefully exceed, our goal […]