U.S. And Canadian Steel And Aluminum Shipments Declined In May

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on Industry Data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Economic Opportunity and Risk Tracker.

Meanwhile, here are the major headlines from the last week:

• According to MSCI’s monthly Metals Activity Report, U.S. service center steel shipments fell 0.2 percent from May 2021 to May 2022. Aluminum shipments declined 1.4 percent. Canadian steel shipments declined 8.6 percent year-over-year while aluminum shipments fell 15.3 percent.
• According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. industrial production rose 0.2 percent in May. Manufacturing output declined 0.1 percent while the indexes for utilities and mining rose one percent and 1.3 percent. At 105.7 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May was 5.8 percent above its year-earlier level.
• Canadian manufacturing sales rose 1.7 percent to $72.3 billion in April due to increases in the petroleum and coal products, motor vehicle, and primary metal sectors. New orders, meanwhile, were up 3.1 percent due in part to increases in the fabricated metals sector. The total value of unfilled orders rose 2.9 percent to $103.9 million, the highest level since March 2020. Statistics Canada also said wholesale sales fell 0.5 percent in April to $79.8 billion due to large declines in sales of miscellaneous goods and building materials. Sales in the machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector rose 1.8 percent, however. Find more information here.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said the manufacturing sector for its region weakened this month. The general activity index declined for the third consecutive month, falling six points to -3.3. It was the index’s first negative reading since May 2020. The indicators for new orders and shipments were down sharply: new orders fell 35 points to -12.4 while the shipments index fell 25 points but remained positive at +10.8. Read the full report here. Manufacturing in the New York region held steady, meanwhile. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s manufacturing index rose 10 points to -1.2. The new orders and shipments indexes both climbed into positive territory while the inventories index rose nine points to +17.1. Read the full report here.
• According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ second quarter outlook survey, 59.3 percent of manufacturing leaders believed inflationary pressures will make a recession more likely in the next 12 months. Nearly half of employers said shortage of available workers is a top problem driving inflation.
• The National Federation of Independent Business’ Optimism Index fell 0.1 points in May to 93.1, marking the fifth consecutive month below the 48-year average of 98. Twenty-eight percent of owners said inflation was the single most important problem in operating their business. Fifty-one percent of owners reported job openings that could not be filled, up four points from April. Read more here.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 229,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits during the week that ended June 11, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average was 218,500, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week. The number of people continuing to receive benefits rose to 1.312 million during the week that ended June 4, up from 1.309 million the previous week. The four-week moving average of continuing claims was 1,317,500, down 750 from the previous week.
• In other economic news: the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s National Activity Index, a key gauge of future growth, was +0.47 in April, up from +0.36 in March; the number of new homes under construction in the United States fell 14.4 percent between April 2022 and May 2022 and 3.5 percent between May 2021 and May 2022; U.S. import prices rose 0.6 percent in May while export prices increased 2.8 percent; and the U.S. Producer Price Index rose 0.8 percent from April to May and 10.8 percent year-over-year.