The total number of operating rigs in the US the week ending March 24th was 809, 652 oil and 155 gas. For oil, this was 75.3% higher year on year (y/y), and 8.3% greater than a month ago. For gas the y/y increase was 68.5%, while the month on month (m/m), increase was 2.6%. In [...]
Referencing data from Worldsteel Association, February global crude steel production totaled 126.6 million tonnes (Mt) (note February was a 29 day month) at a capacity utilization rate (CUR) of 70.3%. This was a 4.1% year on year (y/y), increase and the highest CUR since March 2016. China’s production was 61.2 Mt, a 4.2% increase y/y, [...]
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Composite index rose 10.8 points in March to reach 125.6 points, the highest reading since December 2000. This was far better than analysts’ expectations and the fourth increase in the last five months. The Present Situation sub-index score was 143.1 while the Expectation sub-index came-in at 113.8, both scoring their [...]
For the week ending March 25th, production reached 1,725,000 tons at a 72.8% capacity utilization, slightly less than the YTD average. For the first twelve weeks of 2017, US steel production averaged 1,738,000 tons per week at an average capacity utilization rate of 73.3%. This was a 72,000 ton per week increase in production over [...]
New orders for durable goods gained 1.7% in February from January, totaling $235.4 billion. On a 3MMA basis the year on year (y/y), change was a positive 1.1%, while the 3MMA change over 12 months was an encouraging 2.9%. Orders for January were revised upward by 0.3% from 2.0% to 2.3%. Figure 1 shows the [...]
Initial claims grew by 15,000 for the week ending March 18th. This more than reversed the prior week’s 6,000 decline however, the trend in initial claims remains favorable. With 5.6 million job openings (as of January 31st), according to the Job Opening and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is [...]
The US dollar (USD) continues to advance against a trade weighted basket of currencies known as the Broad Index. The February 2017 Broad index value was 101.33 down 1.4% month on month (m/m) but up 1.9% over 12 months and up 22.0% from a level of 83.04 where it stood five years ago. The FED [...]
Total housing starts were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,167,000 for the month of February, on a 3MMA basis, up 8.9% year on year (y/y). Single family housing starts moved-up 4.8%, 3MMA y/y, while multi-family surged 17.7%, 3MMA y/y, over the same time comparison. Table 1 breaks down starts and permit detail for [...]
After falling to a disappointing 49.5 in January (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings), the national ABI rebounded to score 50.7 in February. In an encouraging trend for future non-residential construction activity, the ABI has been greater than 50 for four of the last five months. The ABI typically leads construction put-in-place [...]
Crude oil inventories have been trending sharply higher since the beginning of the year. Excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, stocks of crude oil recorded 479,012,000 barrels per week at the end of 2016. As of March 10, 2017, this number was up to 528,156,000, a 10.3% increase in 10 weeks. Figure 1 shows a graph [...]
