Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:”I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Posts Tagged: ‘steel exports’
Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.3% in January
In a bit of good news for the steel market, the U.S. unemployment rate slightly declined from 8.5% in December 2011 to 8.3% in January 2012, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 243,000 in January, primarily as a result of 257,000 new jobs in private sector areas such as professional and business services (70,000), leisure and hospitality (44,000), and manufacturing (50,000). The number of new manufacturing jobs added more than doubles the 23,000 added in December. The most recent previous months where manufacturing gained roughly 50,000 or more jobs were January 2011 (49,000) and August 1998 (142,000). Almost 154.4 million people participated in the civilian labor force, up from about 153.9 million in December, and 140.8 million people were employed, up from about 140.6 million in December.
Close to 13M Unemployed
A total of 12.8 million people were classified as unemployed in January, down 2% from about 13.1 million in December. Of these, 5.5 million, or about 43%, were long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more without a job). The remaining 7.3 million either lost a job or completed a temporary job.
Participation Rate Falls Slightly
In January, the civilian non-institutional population age 16 and older measured about 242.3 million, up from about 240.6 million in December. The civilian labor force participation rate fell slightly, however, in January from 64% in December. . Meanwhile, the employment-population ratio held steady at 58.5% and has changed little since September 2011 (58.4%).
Part-Time, Marginal, Discouraged Workers (please compare with December)
There was little month-over-month change in the number of people employed part-time for economic reasons (up 1%, from 8.1 million in December to 8.2 million in January). However, a more substantial increase occurred in the number of people marginally attached to the labor force (up 12%, from 2.5 million to 2.8 million), and discouraged (marginally attached people not currently looking for work, up 16%, from 945,000 to 1.1 million).
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
December Steel Imports Post Surprising Drop; Full Year Rises 19%
New Report Preview - Steel Market
December preliminary steel imports posted a surprising monthly decline, falling 5.3% to 2.0 million tons (mt) from October’s 2.11 mt, the lowest level since February and some 32.6% below the peak in May. December licenses had suggested an increase of as much as 9% driven by a 50%-plus surge in semi-finished steel; however, actual semi-finished imports rose just 5.3%. We suspect that some tonnage meant for December arrival was actually received in November as actual imports in November were 4% higher than licenses had suggested.
The monthly decline was driven by lower imports of cut-to-length plate (down 26.7%), OCTG (down 17.1%) and sheet (down 12.8%). However, based on current licenses, these declines are likely to be short-lived as tonnage for these products look set to increase in January, with significant increases possible for cut-to-length plate and OCTG.
In addition to slightly higher imports of semis, tonnage for rebar and wire rod jumped some 48.9% and 48.8%, respectively. Rebar licenses for January are showing an even further uptick, which could lift rebar imports to the highest level in nearly four years – which helps explain domestic steelmakers recent decision to hike domestic rebar prices less than other long products.
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Advance/Decliner Index Hitting Another High
New Report Preview – Steel Market
Our Advance/Decliner Index jumped to 89% this week from 83% last week as pricing finally began to strengthen in China. Our China Index rose from 33% to a 5-month high of 55%, as Chinese steelmakers raised export prices which will likely support higher pricing elsewhere.
Our Ex-China Index stayed high, rising nominally from 91% to 92%. Broad-based pricing gains continue to be driven by rising scrap prices and the anticipation of seasonally stronger 1Q demand, in our view. In the US, Severstal “officially” announced another sheet hike – $30/ton – that will lift hot-rolled list prices to $770/ton – compared with actual prices of $720-750/ton currently.
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