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This is the Global Economic, Scrap Metal, Commodities and Recycling Report, by BENLEE Roll off Trailers and Open Top Gondola Scrap trailers, July 8th 2019.
U.S. steel production fell to 1.851 Million tons, as manufacturing slowed and imports of steel increased.
Oil fell to $55.51/barrel, despite OPEC teaming with Russia and other countries on production cuts to keep prices up.
U.S. oil production rose to 12.2 M barrels per day as shale oil expands production throughout the U.S.
Iron ore rose to $117/Ton, near the 5-year high, on continued supply disruptions and good global demand.
Scrap steel #1 HMS was mostly steady at $235/GT, a Multi-Year low, as mixed upward and downward pressure hit domestic and export markets.
Hot roll coil steel rose to $26.58 on steel mill prices increases, to offset high iron ore prices, not demand increases.
May’s Global Steel production was up 5.4% year over year with China up 10%, despite their slowing. The U.S. was up 5.4% also, while China manufactured 11.5 times the steel the U.S. made.
Copper fell to $2.66.5, near multiyear lows as global slowing continues, especially in China, which consumes about 50% of the world’s copper.
Aluminum fell to 80.4 cents, also remaining low, on the global slowing as well.
May’s U.S. Trade deficit widened to $55.5 Billion as imports surged 3.3%, while exports rose 2%. Despite tariffs, the trade deficit with China widened. U.S. imports of cars and crude oil rose.
June’s PMI Manufacturing Index fell to 51.7, the weakest expansion in almost three years, as new orders and prices fell, while the production index rose slightly. Backlogs fell for the second month, while export orders remained weak. Concerns remained about U.S. China trade turbulence.
June’s U.S. Construction spending fell, the largest decline since last November, as spending on private construction dropped & investment in private residential projects fell for the fifth consecutive month to the weakest point in about 2.5 years.
June’s Non-Farm Payrolls rose 224,000, above expectations and great this far into the 10-year economic expansion. The many months of 325,000 and 340,000 in 2014 and 2015 are tough to repeat.
June’s Labor Force participation rate, which is people over 16 years of age that can work, rose. This means many people sitting at home came into the work force, which means they can help grow the economy and pay taxes.
June’s unemployment percent actually went up, due to more people looking for work, so while it is normally bad news the rate is up, in this case it is good news.
Education and Healthcare had the most jobs created in June. There was some growth in construction and manufacturing, but not a lot. Mining actually lost jobs.
June’s U.S. Vehicle sales stayed at an annual rate of 17.3M, as consumer spending remains good, as job growth continues.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones rose 280 points to 26,922 hitting a new record during the week, with the solid jobs report and the expectations of at least a small interest rate cut this month.
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