Nucor beat guidance forecasts with earnings of $245 million for the third quarter of 2014, up from $147 million in both Q2 2013 and Q3 2013. Consolidated net sales increased 8 percent to $5.70 billion. Strong third quarter earnings were attributed to improved performance in sheet steel, structural, bar, and plate steel that was partially […]
I spent a good portion of this week either in Louisiana or traveling to and from the state. I attended an energy conference at Louisiana State University (LSU) which I found to be fascinating. I found out how little I knew about the various drilling operations for oil and natural gas and how far the […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. The daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate fell below $100 in August and by October 14th was down to $81.72, the latest daily figure available from the Energy Information Administration, (EIA.) Brent closed at $86.36 on the same day. The EIA has calculated […]
According to Baker Hughes data from October 17th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,918 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count represents a decrease of 12 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs down 19 to 1,590 rigs, gas rigs up 8 to 328 rigs, and […]
According to Baker Hughes data from October 10th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,930 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count represents an increase of 8 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 18 to 1,609 rigs, gas rigs down 10 to 320 rigs, and […]
Armada Executive Intelligence released its monthly trends report that focuses on economic issues that are likely to have short and long term impact on business. The following is a summary of the important issues to watch in the coming months and year. Trend 1: U.S. Dollar Strengthening Banks around the world are taking their cue […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 26th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is unchanged compared to last week, with oil rigs down 9 to 1,592 rigs, gas rigs up 9 to 338 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 19th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is unchanged compared to last week, with oil rigs up 9 to 1,601 rigs, gas rigs down 9 to 329 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at […]
Industrial production (IP) and manufacturing capacity utilization for August 2014: Both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 104.12 for August, a decline of 0.1 percent from July. This is another example where the individual month’s result can be misleading. The three month […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 12th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 6 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 1,592 rigs, gas rigs down 2 to 338 rigs, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 29th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,914 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 18 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 1,575 rigs, gas rigs up 8 to 338 rigs, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 22, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,896 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 17 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 25 to 1,564 rigs, gas rigs up 9 to 330 rigs, […]
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has just released data on global oil production for 2013. The global total was just over 90 million barrels per day (bpd). The Middle East and North America produced 27,170,000 and 19,285,999 bpd, respectively. The United States was the world’s top oil producer at 12,302,000 bpd followed by Saudi Arabia […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 15th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,913 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 5 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 1 to 1,589 rigs, gas rigs up 5 to 321 rigs, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 8th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,908 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 19 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 15 to 1,588 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 316 rigs, […]
Today’s hot rolled coil futures (HRC) article comes to us from Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunchrisk, LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. In his article he will review the S&P 500, copper pricing, crude oil pricing, steel, iron ore and ferrous scrap futures trading: Well the S&P 500 reached its high […]
Keith Grass, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Raw Materials and Chief Executive Officer of The David J. Joseph Company will retire effective September 12, 2014. Mr. Grass began his career with DJJ in 1978, serving as President of DJJ from 2000 until December 2012 and CEO of DJJ since 2000. He was appointed Executive Vice […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 1st, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,889 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 6 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 1,573 rigs, gas rigs down 5 to 313 rigs, […]
US Steel did surprisingly well in the second quarter, coming back from a weather impacted first quarter to narrow losses and show operating profit. US Steel reported a net loss of $18 million in the second quarter, performing better than expected. Income from operations came to $132 million. Net sales were $4.40 billion as compared […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 25th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,883 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 12 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 1,562 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 318 rigs, […]
Explanation of data sources: The broad index is published by the Federal Reserve on both a daily and monthly basis. It is a weighted average of the foreign exchange values of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of a large group of major U.S. trading partners. The index weights, which change over time, are derived […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 18th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,871 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 4 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 9 to 1,554 rigs, gas rigs up 4 to 315 rigs, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 11th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,875 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 1 rig when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 1 to 1,563 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 311 rigs, and […]
AISI Press Release – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and more than 40 other associations are urging the State Department to move ahead toward completion of the Keystone XL pipeline. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, in whose jurisdiction the pipeline evaluation process lies, the groups state […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 3rd, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,874 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 1 rig when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 4 to 1,562 rigs, gas rigs down 3 to 311 rigs, […]
“When the rules are ignored, circumvented or broken, all Americans lose,” said US Steel President and CEO Mario Longhi to the United States Senate Committee on Finance. Mr. Longhi’s testimony on trade enforcement regarding foreign steel imports is reprinted below for our readers. United States Senate Committee on Finance Testimony of Mario Longhi President and […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 27th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,873 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 15 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 13 to 1,558 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 314 rigs, […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Friday reported May results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials and this month for the first […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. West Texas Intermediate closed at $107.08 and Brent at $115.19 on June 19th. In 10 days prior to the 19th WTI increased by $1.99 and Brent by $4.64 as the ISIS situation in Iraq increased market uncertainty. Oil and gas prices have both been […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 13th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this past week was 1,854 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 6 rigs when compared to the prior week, with oil rigs up 6 to 1,542 rigs, gas rigs down 10 to […]