After climbing sharply last week to a five-month high, spot iron ore ticked down slightly this week. Spot iron ore pricing ended the week at $120.90/mt, down from $123.95/mt a week ago. This remains the highest price for iron ore since early-April.
After contracting sharply in August, manufacturing activity from the New York region increased slightly in September. The September Empire Manufacturing Index came in at 1.9, up from -19.0 in August. The index has now increased in three of the last four months.
After slipping in July, U.S. light vehicle sales rebounded slightly in August. August U.S. light vehicle sales totaled 1.313 million units, up 1.0% from July and up 15.7% from 1.127 million units in August 2022. The increase in total sales in August came from both light trucks and imported vehicles, which climbed 1.7% and 5.3%, respectively.
Total construction spending continued to climb in July and is now up for the seventh consecutive month. Total spending came in at a $1.973 trillion rate in July, up 0.7% from June and up 5.5% from the $1.869 trillion rate in July 2022. Spending increased for both residential and non-residential projects in July, with the larger increase coming from residential.
Sales of new homes increased in July, climbing to a seventeen month high. New home sales came in at a 714,000 unit rate, up 4.4% from June and up 31.5% from the 543,000 unit rate in July 2022. Year-to-date actual sales of new homes is up 0.2% compared to the same timeframe last year.
New residential construction improved slightly in July and is now up for the second time in the last three months. New housing starts came in at a 1.452 million unit rate in July, up 3.9% from June and up 5.9% from the 1.371 million unit rate in July 2022. The boost in July came from single-family units, which were up 6.7% from June.
Domestic coated lead times pushed higher on average this week, climbing to 8.27 weeks. This is up from 7.82 weeks last week and at its highest level since early July. The increase this week came from converters and coaters while both integrated and mini-mill producer lead times were essentially flat.
New orders for manufactured durable goods increased in June, climbing 4.7% to a $302.5 billion rate. New orders are now up for the fourth consecutive month. Excluding the transportation sector (which includes aircraft) new orders were up 0.6%.
New orders for manufactured durable goods increased in June, climbing 4.7% to a $302.5 billion rate. New orders are now up for the fourth consecutive month. Excluding the transportation sector (which includes aircraft) new orders were up 0.6%.
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders increased further in July, showing optimism for the second consecutive month. The July Housing Market Index came in at 56, up slightly from 55 in June and 55 in July 2022. This is the first year-over-year increase in the index since July 2021.
