Commodities, Scrap Metal, Recycling and Economic Report
August 14, 2023
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This is the Commodities, Scrap Metal, Recycling and Economic Report, August 14th, 2023.
U.S. weekly raw steel production fell to 1.727MT a 75.9% steel mill utilization rate vs 78% last year on slowing U.S. manufacturing.
WTI crude oil price rose to $83.19/b., near a 9 month high. There are forecasts of even higher prices in the coming months due to Russia and Saudia Arabia’s production cuts. Russia needs higher prices to pay for their war. U.S. oil companies also win with higher prices.
The U.S. weekly oil rig count was steady at 525 on increased productivity per well and as U.S. oil companies are limiting production. Management owes it to shareholders to support higher prices and higher profits.
U.S. weekly crude oil production rose to 12.6Mb/d., the highest in 16 months. Oil prices at multi-month highs are bringing slightly higher production.
Scrap Steel #1 HMS price was steady at $330/GT on slowing global manufacturing.
Hot-rolled coil steel price rose slightly to $37.75/cwt., $795/T on the slowing global economy.
Copper price fell to $3.72/lb., on the slow Chinese recovery and less concerns over short supply.
Aluminum price fell to .99/lb., $2,177/mt., on increased Chinese Aluminum Production.
Chinese June Industrial Production rose 4.4% vs. last year. Manufacturing and mining rose the most, but the overall Chinese economy is growing very slowly.
U.S. June Imports fell to $313 Billion, the lowest since November 2021, which is good news and bad news. The good news is we are buying less from other countries. The bad news is we are buying less of things we do not make like computers, because our economy is slowing.
The U.S. July annual inflation rate rose slightly to 3.2%, but below forecasts of 3.3%. Core inflation that excludes food and energy fell to 4.7% from 4.8%.
U.S. July NFIB small business optimism index rose to 91.9, the third consecutive monthly increase. Inflation is still the #1 problem, but less so. The 6 month outlook was also better.
U.S. August U of M consumer sentiment index fell slightly to 71.2, but still near the highest in 9 months. People are feeling better about current conditions and future inflation.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221 points to 35,281. This was despite higher inflation data which could bring higher for longer interest rates.
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