Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of July 2014, providing updated data on iron ore imports, steel scrap imports, and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in July were 82,520,000 metric tons, an increase of 10.7 percent from the previous month and an increase of 12.8 percent […]
Apparent steel supply for July was 10,588,648 net tons, the highest figure Steel Market Update has in its recorded history back to January 2010. Steel Market Update calculates apparent steel supply by adding domestic shipments and finished US imports and subtracting total US exports. July supply represents a 1,383,999 ton or 15.0 percent increase compared […]
Steel Market Update featured Timna Tanners, Metals & Mining Analyst, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, and John Anton, Director of Steel Services, IHS Global, at a luncheon presentation at the recent Steel Summit. The topic was commodity and steel forecasts and consolidation of the industry. As usual the two disagreed on some topics and sparked some […]
Scrap dealers were a little surprised by the end of this past week as ferrous scrap prices remained stable instead of rising $10 per ton as many had anticipated. Steel Market Update wanted to understand what happened that resulted in a sideways market and here is what we learned from one of our East Coast […]
AIIS, Falls Church, VA. September 5, 2014 — Steel exports continued to trend downward in July, slipping 3.3 percent to just over 1 million net tons. While exports to Canada were virtually unchanged from June to July at 536,892 net tons, and the amount of steel sent to Mexico increased 7.4 percent to 366,732 net […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered at present is thirty five, the Chicago Fed Mid-West Manufacturing Index is still on hold to enable the staff to complete a major re-vamp of the […]
The August ISM Purchasing Manufacturing Index increased 1.9 points to a reading of 59.0, its highest reading since March 2011. Survey respondents report business is strong but expressed concern over geopolitical issues. New orders and production each increased 3.3 percent to 66.7 and 64.5, respectively. The new orders index was the highest seen since April […]
Global manufacturing conditions were relatively unchanged in August, increasing to 52.6 on the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI from 52.4 in July. The US continued to show strong domestic and foreign demand. The Eurozone and the UK weakened in August with the Eurozone registering its lowest PMI since July 2013. Japan rebounded while manufacturing conditions […]
This week will be the last week we will use the old USS extras in our .060″ G90 galvanized index and cost calculations. The extra is changing from $3.00/cwt to $3.45/cwt. Please make a note of this. Before the end of this week we will revise our Price Estimator on the website to incorporate the […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) had been hearing that we should expect sideways scrap prices as we move into September. However, over the last couple of working days the signals are now pointing toward a strong sideways to slightly higher tilt to ferrous scrap pricing. We have heard numbers could go up as high as $10 […]
The following article about Futures trading is from Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk, LLC. Andre will be one of our speakers at our 4th Steel Summit Conference as he speaks to the influence Chinese futures trading has on commodity prices. He mentions iron ore trading (China) in the article below: OK, so we’re at […]
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 […]
American Iron and Steel Insitute (AISI) President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson spoke about currency manipulation at a press conference at the City Club in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday. American steel producers are “under attack from surging imports benefitting from unfair trade practices—like currency manipulation,” said Gibson. Gibson was joined by former Missouri Governor Matt […]
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 […]
Early indications, based on steel import license data, are suggesting August steel imports will once again exceed 3.5 million net tons and could go as high as 4.0 million tons. The high so far this year was May at 4.033 million net tons. May 2014 was also the highest import level seen since prior to […]
In the week of August 2nd the four week moving average (4WMA) of raw steel production as reported by the AISI exceeded 1,900,000 tons per week, for the first time since June 16th 2012, (Figure 1). However, capacity utilization at 79.2 percent (4WMA) is still nowhere near where it was before the recession. Capacity is […]
In the 1st half of 2014, scrap exports totaled 7,580,485 metric tons, down by 23.5 percent from the 1st half of 2013. In the single month of June exports were 1,270,041 tons, down from May’s volume of 1.549,070 tons. May had by far the highest tonnage of the year, the June volume was in line […]
Total shipments of sheet and strip products including hot rolled, cold rolled and all coated products were down by 0.6 percent year to date (YTD) compared to the first half of 2013. In the second quarter of 2014 compared to the first quarter, the total tonnage was down by 0.7 percent and comparing Q2 2014 […]
The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) reports steel exports to NAFTA partners decreased in June but were offset by exports to other countries, particularly Brazil. The AIIS Statement on June 2014 steel exports is reprinted for your convenience below: Falls Church, VA. August 7, 2014. Exports of U.S. steel held steady in June, […]
Earlier today you should have received a special issue newsletter about our upcoming Events – Steel Summit, Steel 101 workshop and Managing Price Risk II. There is a ton of information in that newsletter and you are welcome to forward it around the country. Probably the one thing of the most interest is who is […]
One of our Steel Summit Conference speakers, Chuck Bradford, produced an interesting report on Chinese pig iron and crude steel production, imports and exports. Mr. Bradford shared the information with Steel Market Update along with a few comments: “Please keep in mind that the data I show in this report is more exact than the […]
We are aware that the domestic (USA) steel mills are unhappy with Chinese exports of cold rolled to the United States. The rumors of potential dumping suits against Chinese cold rolled, and possibly coated steel, have been floating about the industry for months. Based on latest import license data for the month of July, Chinese […]
The July ISM Report on Business indicates that activity in the manufacturing sector increased last month. The July PMI rose 1.8 percent to 57.1 for the highest reading since April 2011 and the 14th consecutive monthly increase. A PMI reading in excess of 43.2 percent, over a period of time, also indicates an expansion of […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 52.5 in July, down just 0.1 point from June and indicating moderating growth. Indices for new orders and output were nearly unchanged from the prior month. The exports index increased at a faster rate, up 0.4 points to 51.5 in July. The employment index decreased by 0.4 points […]
On Wednesday this week the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the advance estimate of Q2 2014 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts. In addition to the regular revision of estimates for the most recent 3 years and for the first quarter of 2014, GDP and select components were revised back to […]
South Korea may take action against the recent DOC decision to impose dumping duties on South Korean OCTG products. According to an article by the Yonhap News Agency in S. Korea, Deputy Trade Minister Choi Kyong-lim told a press briefing that the government is reviewing the impact the decision will have on steel exports from […]
The SMU Key Market Indicators is a Premium Level product produced by Peter Wright in collaboration with Steel Market Update. Our Executive Level members have been getting access to all of the Premium Level data for the month of July (today is the last day). This includes access to all of the Premium data which […]
We are going to hold off on doing an import analysis other than to say that the latest license data suggests July imports will be approximately the same as June. I will check the latest numbers to see if there are any huge variances compared to what we reported over the past few days. If […]
Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC has the honors this week to discuss the financial and HRC, iron ore and scrap futures markets in an attempt to make sense out of what can sometimes feel like total chaos. Financial Markets: Well we’re at all time highs again, having hit an intraday on the September S&P […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today announced the release of its 2013 Annual Statistical Report (ASR). The 2013 ASR shows that U.S. steel production, shipments, imports and exports all decreased in 2013 vs. 2012, as U.S. steel markets remained below pre-recession levels. U.S. steel shipments were at 95 million net […]