Commodities, Scrap Metal, Recycling and Economic Report

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This is the Commodities, Scrap Metal, Recycling and Economic Report, September 12th, 2023.

U.S. weekly raw steel production fell to 1.73MT on slowing U.S. manufacturing.

U.S. Dollar index. U.S. $ vs other global currencies. It rose to 105.7. A stronger $ brings lower commodity prices. This was on good U.S. economic services data and weak Europe/Asia data that brought the U.S. Federal Reserve hinting at higher interest rates and Europe/Asia could have lower rates.

WTI crude oil price rose to $87.30/b., as Saudi Arabia and Russia extended production cuts. This drove up global prices, so U.S. Oil and OPEC win, but increases inflation.

The U.S. weekly oil rig count was up slightly to 513. U.S. oil companies are not increasing production rapidly. If they do, price comes down and OPEC could decide to flood the market, which would hurt U.S. oil company profits.

U.S. weekly crude oil production was steady at 12.8Mb/d. The U.S. remains the #1 global oil producer and consumer. U.S. Oil, Gasoline, Diesel fuel, and Natural gas exports remain near a record high.

Scrap Steel #1 HMS price was steady at $330/GT. September prices are settling in this week.

Hot-rolled coil steel price fell to $34.58/cwt., $692/T on continued slow demand.

Copper price fell to $3.71/lb., on the strength of the dollar and on slowing Chinese demand.

Aluminum price fell to $.99/lb., $2,184/mt on cuts in Chinese production.

China’s August Trade Surplus fell to $68.4B, but the first 8 months of the year were a record. Exports dropped 8.8% and imports dropped 7.3% over last year. Sadly, the trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $33.1B from July’s $30.3B.

U.S. August S&P Composite total economy index fell to 50.2, the slowest business activity since February. Under 50 means contraction, so 50.2 is near contraction. There was a slight decrease in new business as export orders contracted.

U.S. July New Orders for manufactured goods fell 2.1% from June, as transportation equipment drove the decrease.

U.S. August Logistics’ Manager’s Index which involves warehousing, transportation, and inventory levels. It increased to 51.2 from a record low in July. Warehousing utilization and transportation grew.

Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 258 points to 34,577 as the Chinese government banned Apple phones for government workers while U.S. energy stocks rose on Saudi Arabia and Russian oil production cuts.

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There was a sad and sudden death of Gregg Rosen last week, the President of KIMCO Steel in Kingston Ontario. He was a great industry leader and a supporter of the community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and his team.

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As always, feel free to call or email me with any questions and we hope all have a safe and profitable week.

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