Economy
June 1, 2014
May 2014 – The Month That Was…
Written by John Packard
As usual we will spend a few moments taking a look at the month of May in our rear view mirror to see what transpired.
SMU Price Momentum Indicator was adjusted during the month from Higher to Neutral as we detected a change in the supply/demand dynamics with the return to full production at US Steel Gary Works and US Steel Great Lakes. We also learned that AK Steel had apparently caught up its hot rolled and cold rolled order book (still extended on coated) which in the past has put them into the spot market. The other big issue is foreign steel imports which the US Department of Commerce (US DOC) has pegged April Preliminary Census data at 3.7 million net tons up from 3.2 million tons in January, February and March. Even more disturbing is our forecast based on US DOC license data that May steel imports could well exceed the 3.7 million net tons and could end up as high as 4.0 million net tons.
