The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, its lowest value since July last year, to 101.1 in August, then to 104.1 in September, it’s highest value since […]
Durable goods orders were flat in August after making gains in July. In the latest report by the Department of Commerce, new orders for manufactured durable goods, excluding transportation were down 0.4 percent, and orders excluding defense were down 1.0 percent. Orders for core capital goods, a proxy for business spending which excludes both military […]
On Thursday, September 22, 2016 four steel mills: ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor, AK Steel and US Steel submitted petitions asking the US Department of Commerce to review imports of cold rolled and corrosion resistant steels (galvanized and Galvalume) arriving in the United States from Vietnam as actually being a way for China to circumvent antidumping and […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, its lowest value since July last year to 101.1 in August, its highest value since September last year. Included below […]
PITTSBURGH, AUGUST 10, 2016 – Esmark Steel Group, one of the nation’s largest processors and distributors of flat-rolled steel, steel fabrication manufacturing and tinplate production, today announced that Michael Ogrizovich, currently President of Esmark Steel Group, has been named a Director to the company’s Board of Directors and been promoted to Vice Chairman of Mill […]
Olympic Steel announced net income of $3.6 million in the second quarter 2016, up substantially from the $22.3 million loss in Q2 2015. Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $273.6 million. Second quarter shipments of carbon flat products totaled 272,000 tons, up 2 percent from first quarter, and 2 percent below Q2 2015. Net […]
Sources for the following article are the Conference Board and SMU analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May to 97.3 in June then eked out a small gain to 97.4 in July. Included below is the official news release from the […]
The steel intensive washing machine is the subject of an antidumping investigation brought against China by Whirlpool Corporation. The Department of Commerce issued an affirmative preliminary determination on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in the AD investigation into imports of large residential washers manufactured by LG and Samsung in China. The DOC also found that critical […]
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked the state’s members of Congress to begin the process of obtaining funding for a renovation of the Soo Locks. “The Soo Locks are crucial shipping link for some our nation’s biggest industries,” said Snyder. “The increase in outages from maintenance, redundancy and capacity issues poses significant economic consequences for […]
Metalforming companies surveyed in June are expecting little change in business conditions during the next three months. The June 2016 Precision Metalforming Association sampled 120 metalforming companies in the U.S. and found most expect economic activity to remain steady. Orders are expected to remain at stable, with 51 percent predicting no change compared to 44 […]
Sources for the following article are the Conference Board and SMU analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, the lowest value in 19 months, to 98.0 in June which was the highest value in 8 months. Included below is the official […]
Sources for the following article are the Conference Board and SMU analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence declined from 96.1 in March to 94.7 in April and to 92.6 in May. Included below is the official news release from the Conference Board. The three month […]
The Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday affirmative final determinations in AD and CVD investigations of imports of corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) from China, India, Italy, Korea; an affirmative final determination in the AD investigation of imports of CORE from Taiwan; and a negative final determination in the CVD investigation of imports of CORE from […]
Today, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative final determinations in the AD investigations of imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled steel) from China and Japan, and CVD investigation of imports of cold-rolled steel from China. Commerce determined imports of cold-rolled steel from China and Japan have been sold in the U.S. at […]
On May 17, 2016, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determinations in the AD investigations of imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat products from China and Japan and CVD investigation of imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat products from China. The investigations cover certain cold-rolled, flat-rolled, steel products, neither clad, plated, […]
SSAB Americas announced the launch of a new awareness program—EcoSmart, to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship. SSAB Americas’ EcoSmart steel contains 97 percent recoverable scrap metal that has been diverted from landfills. The recycled steel contains everything from old automotive parts to discarded appliances. Along with the use of recycled scrap metal, SSAB Americas […]
The following article was originally produced by the Wall Street Journal on March 14, 2016. The U.S.’s biggest iron ore miner Monday said it would restart a key mine in Minnesota, a positive sign for the battered U.S. steel industry following a small uptick in prices and new import tariffs on foreign steel. Cleveland-based Cliffs […]
The Great Lakes 2016 shipping season commenced on March 2 with a load of iron ore for ArcelorMittal Cleveland. The tug/barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 14,600 tons of iron ore at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal to deliver to ArcelorMittal on the Cuyahoga River. The barge was about 4,600 tons shy of a full load due to […]
The following is a reprint of an article by Dr. Mark J. Perry in response to the Wall Street Journal article about the duties imposed on imports of cold-rolled steel from China that SMU publisher John Packard was quoted in. Dr. Perry is a Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute and Professor of Finance and […]
The article below is normally published to our Premium members as a supplement to the Executive write up. The author is Peter Wright who produces a number of articles for both our Premium and Executive level newsletters. Peter is also one of our Steel 101 instructors where he shares both his marketing and metallurgical knowledge […]
Steel Dynamics’ struggling recycling segment widened the company’s net loss to $253 million in fourth quarter 2015. It was determined that the book value of the metals recycling segment recorded $435 million in non-cash goodwill and other related asset impairment charge. Excluding the metals recycling charges, adjusted net income was $22 million on net sales […]
The vast majority of the respondents to our latest flat rolled steel market analysis believe that the domestic steel mills will be able to collect “some” of the latest round of price increases which range from $20 to $30 per ton. In our latest assessment of the flat rolled market, we asked whether the domestic […]
This article is normally reserved for our Premium members but we felt it would be a good one to share with all of our readers. If you are interested in signing up for a Premium membership or would like a trial, let us know at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or call (800) 432 3475. Following up on our […]
There are zombie factories in China. No, they are not making zombies but the factories themselves are the equivalent of the walking dead–steel mills hanging on by a thread, not making money, reducing workforces, but clinging to life when they are all but dead. The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) is painting a grim […]
On Tuesday evening ArcelorMittal advised their customers of their intention to raise carbon flat rolled sheet prices. In an email to their customers the mill advised that they would be raising prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume). The mill told their customers: “Effective immediately with all new quotations, ArcelorMittal […]
Steel Market Update received the following press release from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration regarding the release of the preliminary determination for the hot rolled countervailing duty portion of the hot rolled trade case: On January 11, 2016, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its preliminary determinations in the CVD […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their December report on January 4th 2016 with a value of 48.6 which is the lowest since June 2009. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index had […]
Consumer confidence improved from 92.6 in November to 96.5 in December. The very disappointing November result was revised upwards. The three month moving average (3MMA) declined from 98.1 in November to 96.1 in December. As we have reported in earlier write-ups on this subject, 2015 has been tremendously more variable month to month than 2014. […]
Both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The index had an all-time high of 107.9108 in November last year but on a month over month (m/m) basis has declined for nine of the first eleven months of 2015. This contrasts sharply with last year when in only one […]
The following article was written by Xavier Boucherat and appeared in the Q4 2015 issue of Automotive Megatrends Magazine and is being reprinted by Steel Market Update with permission. It may be lighter, but aluminium is fundamentally a quick fix, and OEMs currently using aluminium will convert those parts back to steel to reduce mass […]