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This is the Global & U.S. Economic, Scrap Metal, Commodities, and Recycling Report, by BENLEE Roll off Trailers and Lugger Trucks, August 6, 2018.
Last week commodity prices and economic reports were mixed.
U.S steel production rose to just below a multiyear high. Great news for the steel industry, while continuing to bring higher prices for steel consumers.
Oil fell less than a dollar, ending at $68.49 on a lot of noise, but no major actions by any countries. There remain many threats though to global supplies.
U.S. oil production fell slightly to 10.9 barrels a day from the all-time record of 11M barrels, two weeks ago. The lack of pipe lines to get oil to markets is slowing pumping in many areas.
Iron ore was no change ending at $67.50/Ton due to a good balance of supply and demand around the world.
Scrap steel #1 Heavy Melt shows steady here, but next week, it will show down about $20/GT as demand stayed strong, but supply has been even stronger. Prices remain well ahead of last year and the year before.
Hot dipped galvanized steel remained at a multi-year high of $1,210/Ton. With Tariffs remaining in place, they are helping prices and volumes.
Copper fell 5 cents to $2.755/lb., having been a lot lower during the week on tariff news and China growth concerns. Copper is down about 2.5 cents this morning to $2.73.
The 5-year chart shows we remain off the June multiyear high as markets remain looking for a direction.
Copper inventories fell slightly, as markets remain concerned about global growth.
Aluminum fell 1.6 cents to 91.6 cents, near a 4-month low on continued tariff nervousness. Good scrap flow and good demand continues.
Aluminum LME inventories fell slightly, remaining near 8-year lows on good demand.
China’s Key Stock market index, the Shanghai Composite, ended near a multiyear low as China and the U.S. continue to ramp up Tariff warnings against one another.
July U.S. Vehicle annualized sales fell to 16.77M from 17.24, an 11-month low, as many remain nervous about the economy despite many strong indicators. While not on this chart, vehicles manufactured in South Carolina and Alabama, and then shipped to China, by Mercedes and BMW, have been hurt by China tariffs on U.S. manufactured vehicles.
U.S. July job creation, known as non-farm payrolls was a very strong 170,000, a truly great thing for the U.S. economy.
This led the unemployment rate to fall to 3.9 percent, near the multi decade low it hit a few months ago.
This now means the nine-year growth has total nonfarm payroll at new record of about 126.57 Million people; a great trend.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points to 25,463 on continued good news, while being concerned about tariffs.
Safety is also key to all we do at BENLEE. Auto Air Inflation systems, keep tires inflated when they get a nail or piece of metal in them and stops them from shredding while driving. They also keep tires at the right pressure on a normal basis to get better fuel mileage and longer tire wear. Importantly if a tires shreds it can cause a fire as sparks hit the road. BENLEE sells auto inflate systems to retrofit your existing Open Top, Van, flat bed or roll off trailers. They are very cost effective and add safety.
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