Each week, Majestic Steel USA [majesticsteel.com], a steel service center that distributes prime, flat-rolled galvanized steel sheets and coils to industries across the United States, compiles the Core Report. The Report is “an in-depth look at key indicators and trends driving the steel market. Market volatility demands your attention about what’s driving prices, when and why.” Data sources are listed in each section.
Majestic Steel has granted Rollforming Magazine permission to publish information excerpted from the Report for its readers.
Domestic Steel Production
According to the American Iron & Steel Institute, Weekly Domestic Steel Production report dated December 17, U.S. mill production dipped slightly, producing an estimated 1,651k tons and a 74.3% rate utilization rate. This was down from 1,668k tons and a 75.1% rate previously. By comparison, this was 3.7% lower than the 1,714k tons produced in the same week of 2023.
Production increased in three of the five regions but was offset by large drops in the Midwest and Southern regions. Production from the Southern region dropped the most, sliding from 702k tons to 682k tons.
Spot Iron Ore
The Platts, Spot Iron Ore report dated December 20 reports that pricing dipped after climbing the previous four weeks: Spot iron ore pricing settled at $103.60/mt, down from $105.95/mt the week prior. This is down 2.2% after hitting the highest price since mid-July.
Iron ore now faces headwinds as China has dialed back steel production so far in December and Chinese mills are also expected to perform equipment maintenance before the new year.
Zinc Price & Inventory
Based on the London Metal Exchange, Weekly Zinc Price and Inventory Report and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Weekly Zinc Inventory Report, both dated December 20, 2024:
Zinc pricing dropped sharply after alternating up and down movements over the last six weeks.
Zinc pricing ended the week at $2,957/mt ($1.341/lb), down from $3,082/mt ($1.398/lb) previously.
Despite the announcement of stimulus the previous week, overall market sentiment remains negative as China did not fully disclose what the stimulus measures would be and when it would hit the economy.
Global zinc inventory dropped for the fourth consecutive week: LME warehouse inventory slipped again, dropping from 273,650 metric tons to 257,525 metric tons. Shanghai warehouse inventory decreased as well, sliding from 50,666 metric tons to 40,137 metric tons.
Gross Domestic Product
The third and final estimate of U.S. economic growth in Q3, showed growth revised up to a 3.1% annual rate. (Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product: Q3 2024.)
This is up from the 2.8% annual rate from the second estimate but below the 4.9% annual growth rate in Q3 2023. This third and final update reflected upward revisions to exports and consumer spending. These upward revisions were partly offset by a downward revision to inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction to GDP, were revised higher.
Durable goods manufacturing added 0.16% to Q3 GDP, while the construction industry saw a subtraction of 0.01%.
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