A View from the Top
Summit Steel President Ross Bushman offers a weekly summary of data and observations regarding the metals industry news, market conditions and their global and domestic impact.
Feel free to contact Ross with your thoughts or comments.
November 2023
New Home Sales Advanced in September
New Home Sales Advanced in September New home sales advanced 12.3% in September, the largest monthly jump in over a year. Amid mounting housing market unaffordability, new home sales are still rising on trend as builders successfully employ price discounts and [...]
October 2023
Raw Steel Production Higher than Year Ago
Raw Steel Production Higher than Year Ago US raw steel production higher than year ago. In the week ending October 14, US raw steel production was1,695,000 net tons at an ACUR of 73.8 percent. The current week’s production, oddly enough, was 3.1 [...]
All Items Index Increased 3.7% Over Past 12 Months
All Items Index Increased 3.7% Over Past 12 Months All items index increased 3.7% over past twelve months. The Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4 percent in September after increasing 0.6 percent in August. Over the past [...]
US Raw Steel Production Down from Previous Week
US Raw Steel Production Down from Previous Week US raw steel production down from previous week. In the week ending September 30, 2023, US raw steel production was 1,722,000 net tons at an ACUR of 75.7 percent, down 0.7 percent from [...]
Demand for Cutting Tools $1.43 Billion
Demand for Cutting Tools $1.43 Billion Manufacturers’ demand for cutting tools totaled $1.43 billion thru July, but unit shipments are flat-suggesting the year-to-date data is a lingering effect of inflation. Data based on purchases reported by companies who comprise the majority [...]
September 2023
LEI Has Fallen for Over a Year
LEI Has Fallen for Over a Year LEI has fallen for over a year. The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for August 2023, declined by 0.4 percent, following a decline of 0.3 percent in July. With August’s decline, the US Leading [...]
Energy prices propel CPI
Energy Prices Propel CPI Energy prices propel CPI. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at the fastest pace in more than a year, due to a jump in energy prices and rose 0.6 percent in August from July. US Raw Steel [...]
Q2 GDP Economy Expanded
Q2 GDP Economy Expanded Q2 GDP economy expanded. The second of three estimates of Q2 GDP were released and showed the economy expanded at a 2.1 percent annualized pace. While still strong (?), this is a slightly slower pace of growth [...]
August 2023
CFNAI Rose in July
CFNAI Rose in July CFNAI rose in July, led by improvements in production-related indicators. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to +0.12 in July from -0.33 in June. Two of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct [...]
Survey Future Indexes Positive but Declined
Survey Future Indexes Positive but Declined Survey future indexes positive but declined, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia August Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey results. It reports manufacturing activity in the region expanded overall, according to firms responding to the [...]
Recession Concerns Diminishing Somewhat
Recession Concerns Diminishing Somewhat Recession concerns diminishing somewhat suggests a Wells Fargo statement. Small business optimism bested expectations in July, notching its third consecutive improvement. The fact that small firms’ economic outlooks continue to improve despite recent macroeconomic headwinds suggests that [...]
Labor Market Gradually Cooling
Labor Market Gradually Cooling The labor market gradually cooling, as the US economy created 187,000 jobs in July, the 2nd sub-200k report. The number was still strong enough to keep downward pressure on unemployment. Texas Manufacturing Activity Declined The Federal Reserve Bank [...]
July 2023
Highest Consumer Confidence Since 2021
Highest Consumer Confidence Since July 2021 Highest consumer confidence since 2021, not since the outset of the pandemic has consumers’ assessment of the present situation been stronger than it is today. Meanwhile, amid broad improvement in labor market measures, overall consumer confidence [...]
LEI Below Recession Threshold Over a Year
LEI Below Recession Threshold Over a Year LEI below recession threshold over a year fell again in June, down 0.7%. This marks the 15th consecutive monthly decline. Total housing starts declined sharply during June, partially reversing May’s robust gain. The drop [...]
June CPI Up Slightly
June CPI Up Slightly The June CPI up slightly, came in at 3.00%, up 0.2 percent over the month of June, a steep decline from the May reading of, I believe, 5.6%. US machine shops and other manufacturers increased their purchases [...]