The World Steel Association was cautiously optimistic in its April 2021 Short-Range Outlook published last week. The association expects steel demand to grow 5.8% this year, reaching 1.874 billion metric tons, after declining 0.2% during the pandemic in 2020. “Despite the disastrous impact of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods, the global steel industry was […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association applauds the Congressional Steel Caucus for their bi-partisan support of Buy America policies to fix America’s infrastructure. Said SMA President Philip Bell, “Yesterday, a bipartisan group of over 50 members of Congress affirmed that Buy America procurement policies that promote using steel made in America by Americans is a trade-compliant approach […]
Housing construction rebounded in March as demand for newly built homes was spurred by tight existing-home inventory and low mortgages interest rates. Construction starts for privately-owned houses soared 19.4% from February to March, and 37% from a year ago, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.74 million units Starts for single-family homes leapt 15.3% […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. announced today a major investment to establish four new coating lines—two in the South and two in the Midwest. The $225 million investment in the southern location will support the new Sinton, Texas, steel mill, which is on track for first production in late summer 2021. A 300,000-ton flat-roll galvanizing line with […]
New York manufacturers had a robust month in April with new orders and shipments accelerating. The Empire State Manufacturing general business index rose 9 points to 26.3, its highest level in more than two years. New orders soared nearly 18 points to 26.9 and the shipments index climbed to 25.0. Delivery times continued to lengthen, […]
Nucor Tubular Products has announced a $100 per ton increase on all new orders for HSS, pipe, mechanical and piling products. Orders booked prior to the announcement will be price protected for shipment through May 7, 2021. New orders, quotes, and contracts will subject to the increase. Nucor said the increase is the result of […]
Metals distributor Russel Metals and Marubeni-Itochu Tubulars America, Inc., plan to merge their Canadian OCTG/line pipe businesses. The new entity will be a 50/50 joint venture named TriMark Tubulars Ltd, a combination of Russel’s Triumph Tubular & Supply Ltd and MITA’s Hallmark Tubulars Ltd. The merger is a result of changing business conditions for the […]
Spring has sprung including a bounce in economic activity, according to the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book. The April survey of federal districts showed a moderate increase in activity from auto sales to tourism, along with heightened optimism. Spring break, vaccine rollout and stimulus payments gave the tourism industry a boost from late February to […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito is very bullish on the metals market, comparing the industry to a baseball game that’s just getting started: “I think we are in the first couple of innings of a really good market and cycle,” he said during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat. Despite material shortages and supply disruptions, manufacturing is […]
Ray Napolitan, Jr., Executive Vice President of Engineered Bar Products and Digital at Nucor, plans to retire on June 5, 2021, after 25 years of service with the company. Napolitan joined Nucor in 1996 as Engineering Manager of Nucor Building Systems-Indiana. He became Operations Manager of Nucor Building Systems-Texas in 1999 and was promoted to […]
Russian steelmaker NLMK said sales in its U.S. division increased 16% in Q1 2021 to 430 million metric tons. The increase was driven by hot-rolled and galvanized steel. Sales of hot rolled increased 17% from the fourth quarter of 2020 and galvanized steel sales soared 37%. Sales of cold rolled fell 13%. On a year-over-year […]
Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement for a 53-month labor contract at the steelmaker’s Mansfield Works in Ohio. The new contract, if ratified, will be effective April 1, 2021, and cover approximately 300 represented workers. Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO, stated, “We are pleased to reach a new labor […]
The U.S. trucking industry is straining to keep up with demand as imports and retail shipping vie with construction and manufacturing for limited truck capacity. Imports fell as the coronavirus took hold last March, but surged to 2.1 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) in August 2020 as global economies reopened. The August record was subsequently […]
The U.S. trucking industry is straining to keep up with demand as imports and retail shipping vie with construction and manufacturing for limited truck capacity. Imports fell as the coronavirus took hold last March, but surged to 2.1 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) in August 2020 as global economies reopened. The August record was subsequently […]
Zekelman Industries has completed the exterior construction of its new rolling mill in Blytheville, Ark. The 515,000-square-foot facility, located next to Zekelman’s Atlas Tube, will be the largest continuous electric resistance welding (ERW) mill in the world and is expected to be operational by September 2021. The mill will be able to roll HSS from […]
Schnitzer Steel tripled its net income from first to second quarter FY 2021 to $46 million, supported by robust revenues of $600 million. Strong demand for recycled metals, higher finished steel prices and elevated scrap pricing resulted in expanded metal spreads and operating margins. Net income per ferrous ton increased to $47 from $14 per […]
Construction employment decreased in 236 metro areas in the 12 months between February 2020 and February 2021, reported the Associated General Contractors of America in an analysis of new government data. “Relatively few places have recovered from the pandemic-induced impacts on the construction industry,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Project cancellations, spiking materials […]
The Dodge Momentum Index reached its highest reading since summer 2018, gaining 1.7% for a score of 151.4. The March Index was boosted by an increase of institutional construction projects entering the planning stage. Compared to March 2020, the index jumped 11%. The range of new projects broadened in the institutional sector with healthcare and […]
The Steel Dynamics Foundation has pledged $1.5 million to Trine University in Angola, Ind., to be used toward the expansion of the university’s engineering facilities. The new 40,000-square-foot expansion will be named the Steel Dynamics Inc. Center for Engineering and Computing. “The continual growth of our business requires a ready supply of well-trained engineers, and […]
Construction industry employment rebounded in March, climbing by 110,000 workers from a plunge of 56,000 in February, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data. “The rebound in March is certainly good news, but contractors face growing challenges that imperil further growth in nonresidential employment,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s […]
Construction spending dipped 0.8 percent in February hampered by unseasonable weather and fewer new projects, said the Associated General Contractors of America in an analysis of new government data. Contractors reported rising costs and longer delivery times that threaten project completion and financial health. Construction spending totaled $1.52 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate […]
Rising costs and supply-chain disruptions remained headwinds for manufacturers across the globe in March. Despite the challenges, the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI reached a 10-year high of 55.0. Manufacturing output expanded at the strongest rate in a decade as demand strengthened domestically and in international trade. Growth was reported in 23 of 27 nations […]
U.S. manufacturing is on a solid path to recovery, according to the latest report from the Institute for Supply Management. The March 2021 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business posted a PMI of 64.7, a gain of 3.9 points from February. Expanding demand resulted in new orders, production and employment growing at a faster rate in […]
Business conditions in the construction industry are split along the residential/nonresidential line, said Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Association of General Contractors of America, who spoke during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. Employment levels in the industry plunged last year at a similar rate between the two segments as the pandemic took hold in March […]
The Chicago Business Barometer reached its highest level since July 2018, soaring to 66.3 in March from 59.5 in February, reports MNI indicators. For the first quarter of 2021, the index gained 4.4 points for a reading of 63.2, the best result since Q3 2018. The production index soared 10.1 points to 72.0 in March […]
Southern steel producers and distributors will have a new customer in 2022. Shipbuilder Austal USA, located in Mobile, Ala., broke ground last week on a steel manufacturing line to build steel ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Austal USA is known for its construction of aluminum vessels, delivering 24 ships to the Navy […]
Home prices soared in January to an 11.2% annual gain, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The January rate jumped from 10.4% in December and was the highest annual rate gain since 2006. The 20-city composite posted an 11.1% annual gain with all cities reporting higher prices, led […]
Tenaris plans to add 140 employees at its Conroe, Texas, pipe plant to operate the heat treatment and finishing areas of the facility. The additional staff is needed to support processing loads from the Bay City seamless mill as it returns to full capacity. A $600,000 technology investment is underway at Conroe that will provide […]
U.S. Steel introduced a new sustainable product line, verdeX, at the Ceres Conference 2021 last week. The advanced high-strength steel can be produced with only one-fourth of the carbon dioxide emissions previously required, the company claims. “We know that the urgency of the climate crisis requires more from all of us,” said U S. Steel […]
Nucor plans to build a new tube mill at Nucor Steel Gallatin in Kentucky. The tube mill will have the capacity to produce approximately 250,000 tons of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, mechanical steel tubing and galvanized solar torque tube. The mill will be advantageously near to growing solar markets and the largest consuming […]