Global Economic, Commodities, Scrap Metal and Recycling Report May 16, 2022

This is the Global Economic, Commodities, Scrap Metal and Recycling Report by our BENLEE Roll off Trailers and Lugger Trucks, May 16th, 2022.

U.S. weekly crude steel production rose to 1.777MT. Slow U.S. growth continues with cheaper imports taking market share.

The U.S. Dollar index. The U.S. dollar vs. other global currencies. When the U.S. dollar rises, commodity prices mostly go down. The dollar rose to 104.5 near a 20-year high. U.S. Federal Reserve said high inflation will bring faster interest rate hikes which leads to a higher dollar.

WTI crude oil price rose to $110.49/b. The European Union is closer to banning Russian oil as OPEC is considering increasing production to lower prices.

U.S. weekly crude oil production fell to 11.8Mb/d, essentially steady for the past 5 months. Steady production and higher demand bringing high prices and record oil company profits.

The U.S. weekly oil rig count rose to 563. The steady increase will bring increased production.

Scrap steel #1 HMS price is settling close to about $415/GT. This is as the strong U.S. dollar is bringing cheap imported scrap into the U.S.

Hot roll coil steel price fell to $66.92/cwt, $1,338/T. This was on fair demand, increased cheaper imports and lower scrap prices.

Copper price fell to $4.16/lb. on the higher dollar and concerns over China’s slow growth.

Aluminum price fell to $1.35/lb., $2,975/mt. This was on the higher dollar, concerns on China’s growth and record China’s Aluminum production.

China March Industrial Production fell to 5% growth as manufacturing and utilities fell.

U.S. May U of M consumer sentiment fell to 59.1 the lowest since 2011. This was on concerns over inflation and current economic conditions.

U.S. April consumer inflation fell to 8.3% as energy increased 30.3%. Food jumped 9.4% as supply disruptions remain a major cause.

U.S. initial unemployment claims rose to 203,000, the highest since February. Still extremely low, as labor markets are still tight.

Wall Street’s Dow Jones industrial average fell 702 points to 32,197, as the Fed Chairman said reducing inflation could cause a recession. It was the 7th straight weekly loss on the Dow, the longest streak since 2001.

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