Global Economic, Commodities, Scrap Metal and Recycling Report April 11, 2022

This is the Global Economic, Commodities, Scrap Metal and Recycling Report by our BENLEE Roll off Trailers and Gondola Trailers, Scrap Haulers, April 11th, 2022.

U.S. weekly crude steel production fell to 1.724MT. Slow economic growth continues as imports take market share.

WTI crude oil price rose to $98.26/b but remains off the recent highs. Concerns over slow demand in China remain and the IEA Countries (major energy users) announced tapping reserves to lower prices.

U.S. weekly crude oil production, rose to 11.8M. Production is rising slowly with higher prices and increased demand.

U.S. weekly oil rig count rose to 546, the highest in two years. The slow growth in production continues.

Scrap steel #1 HMS price fell to about $510/GT. Low export demand and great supply unexpectantly lowered prices.

Hot roll coil steel price rose to $75.58/cwt, $1,513/T on good demand and higher raw material prices.

Copper price rose to $4.73/lb., remaining high. This was on a tight market with tight supply.

Aluminum price fell to $1.63/lb., $3593/mt. This was on weak demand in China and Japan. Also, China increased aluminum exports.

U.S. February factory orders, declined .5% from January, the 1st decline since last April. This was on supply constraints and consumers shift to buying services.

U.S. February trade deficit was about steady at $89.18B, near the record. Higher oil prices and higher oil imports were the key drivers. Good news was U.S. exports hit a record high. Crazy that the trade deficit with Russia widened to $2.1B, which was heavily oil, which has now stopped.

The U.S. 30-year mortgage rate rose to 4.72% and is going higher. This will slow home building, which is part of slowing the economy, to lower inflation.

U.S. initial unemployment claims, fell to 166,000 matching recent lowest since 1968. The tight labor market and robust labor demand continues.

U.S. March S&P composite PMI, which is goods and services. It rose to 57.7 the fastest growth since July. Manufacturers and service providers had a steeper upturn in output. Also, input prices and costs passed to consumers is increasing.

Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average. It fell 97 points to 34,721 with concerns over higher interest rates. High inflation will bring faster increases in interest rates.

Gondola trailers by BENLEE. Unexpected Hardox steel shipments arrived. Gondolas trailers are back in production. 48’ or 53’ 8’ high, or customer sizes.