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This is the Scrap Metal Commodities Recycling and Economic Report, by BENLEE and Raleigh and Goldsboro Recycling, April 2, 2018. Last week, commodity and economic reports were mixed.
U.S steel production fell slightly, but remains higher than last year and two years ago, on good U.S. demand and the reduction of imports, due to tariffs.
Oil fell about a dollar to $64.94, remaining near the multiyear high of a couple of months ago on good global demand and supply.
U.S. oil production hit another new high to 10.43 million barrels per day. Truly great U.S. economic news. We still import oil from the Middle East, but we export U.S. oil to China.
Iron ore fell $2.50 to $65.00, a new multi month low, with tariffs remaining having the world nervous while demand remains solid.
Scrap steel Heavy Melt prices stayed steady at $338/GT as prices for April remain in question. Many still think there could be at least a small increase, but worst case we should see a sideways market.
Hot dipped galvanized steel remained at the multiyear high of $1,120/Ton as all steel producers have announced prices increases as have major manufactures, like the manufacturers of large Class 8 trucks.
Copper rose 5 cents to $3.04 on little news and a soft balance of supply and demand. Copper is up 3 cents this morning to $ 3.07.
The 5 year copper chart shows it remains about 20 cents off the multi year high of a few months ago.
Copper inventories rose on little news and are near a multiyear high with solid prices and production.
Aluminum fell 2.1 cents to 90 cents to a multi-month low, while demand remains in a slight increase mode.
Aluminum LME inventories fell, remaining at very low levels on a soft balance of supply and demand.
February, U.S. Class 8 truck sales, over the road heavy duty trucks, shot up 49% over last year to the 8th highest month in history. A truly great economic indicator.
China’s Manufacturing Purchasing’s Managers index rose to 51.5 a three month high, as output and new orders rose along with new export orders and as buying activity expanded sharply.
The final reading of U.S. economic growth was revised up to 2.9% for the fourth quarter as the 9 year expansion continues. There is not an easy answer here in that growth should continue to be helped by the new tax cuts, yet government deficits are on the rise, despite record incoming tax collections, due to even higher government spending.
Consumer sentiment was revised down slightly ending up at 101.4, which was the strongest reading since January 2004, a great reading. The slight downward revision was due to uncertainty over the trade tariffs. As part of this, inflation expectations increased as did the gauge of current economic conditions.
U.S. Initial unemployment fell to 215,000 near the 1970s lows. Continuing claims fell to 1.83 million, which is the lowest level since 1973, 45 years ago, documenting a great economy.
The stock market’s, Dow Jones average rose a nice 570 points ending at 24,103, but had its first quarterly loss since 2015, yet overall it remains very high.
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