Domestic raw steel production increased sharply again last week, now up seven out of the last eight weeks. U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,785k tons at a 79.5% utilization rate; this is up from 1,757k tons and a 78.2% rate previously.
Domestic raw steel production increased sharply again last week, now up six out of the last seven weeks. U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,757k tons at a 78.2% utilization rate; this is up from 1,744k tons and a 77.6% rate previously.
After sliding for five consecutive months, confidence of U.S. consumers rebounded in May. The May Consumer Confidence Index came in 98.0, up 12.3 points from April.
After sliding the first two months of the year, new home sales have now increased in back-to-back months. New home sales came in at a 743,000 unit rate in April, up 10.9% from March and up 3.3% from the 719,000 unit rate in April 2024.
Domestic raw steel production increased sharply again last week as the mills ramp up to offset the loss of imports. U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,740k tons at a 77.5% utilization rate; this is up from 1,725k tons and a 76.8% rate previously.
Domestic raw steel production increased sharply again last week, now up four out of the last five weeks. U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,725k tons at a 76.8% utilization rate; this is up from 1,706k tons and a 76.0% rate previously.
Increased activity from consumers continued in April, as pre-tariff buying bled over from March. April U.S. light vehicle sales came in at a 17.3 million unit rate, down slightly from March but up considerably from April 2024.
New home sales increased for the second consecutive month in March and was at its highest monthly rate since September. March new home sales came in at a 724,000 unit rate, up 7.4% from February and up 6.0% from the 683,000 unit rate in March 2024.
Shipments of HVAC equipment continued to climb on a month-over-month basis but were down from last year. February HVAC shipments totaled 1.700 million units, up 1.9% from January but were down 1.5% compared to the 1.727 million unit total in February 2024.
Shipments of tractors and combines continued to rebound in March, however that is mainly due to seasonality. March tractor and combine shipments (U.S. and Canada) totaled 18,066 units, up 68.1% from February, but was still down 11.0% from March last year.
