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This is the Global Economic, Commodities, Scrap Metal and Recycling Report, by our BENLEE Roll off Trailer and Roll off Pup trailer, August 16th, 2021.
U.S. Weekly crude steel production fell to 1.872MT an 84.7% steel mill utilization rate, vs. 91%+ in 2008. This was on increasing demand, but steel mills announced closures for maintenance.
WTI Crude oil price rose to $68.03/b, near a multiyear high. This is a really, really crazy industry. 16 months ago, the U.S. cut a deal with OPEC to cut U.S., not OPEC, but cut U.S. production to get oil prices up, yes to get oil prices higher. This week, the U.S. called OPEC to raise OPEC’s production to lower prices.
U.S. weekly crude oil production rose to 11.3Mb/d, still down a huge 1.8Mb/d pre COVID. Lower U.S. and global production is still bringing higher prices.
The U.S. Weekly Oil rig count rose to 397 well off pre COVID and 2014’s high. The industry is struggling to raise production after COVID’s crash.
Scrap steel #1 HMS price fell to $438.33/GT as good demand and very good supply remain.
Hot Roll Coil Steel Price rose to $96.11/cwt, near the record hit during the week. Constrained supply continues to bring record prices.
Copper price rose to $4.36/lb. The world’s largest copper mine voted to strike and the U.S. senate approved the $1T infrastructure bill that supports demand.
Aluminum price rose to $1.186/lb. $2,614mt, the highest since June 2011. This was on good demand and tight supply as China cut production, to cut smog.
Eurozone’s June industrial production fell by .3% from May. Capital/Durable goods were down as non-durable goods were up.
Eurozone’s June trade surplus. Note as shown last week, the U.S. is running record trade deficits. Eurozone’s trade surplus grew to 18.1B Euros. Eurozone’s surplus with China grew the most.
U.S. August preliminary U of M consumer sentiment crashed to 70.2 one of the largest drops ever. There were worries about COVID, inflation and personal finances.
U.S. July core inflation, which excludes food and energy. It fell to 4.3% as the used cars and trucks index soared 41.7%. Note total inflation was flat at 5.4%.
U.S. weekly jobless claims, fell to 375,000 despite COVID’s resurgence. Claims should improve in September when the extra $300/wk. in Federal unemployment benefits ends.
U.S. June open jobs report rose to 10.1M, a record high. The largest gains were in professional services and retail trade.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones industrial average rose 306 points to 35, 515 a new record. This was on strong earnings and the massive infrastructure bill.
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