Steel Shipments Rise In United States And Canada, But Aluminum Shipments Mixed

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 Pulse.

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

• The Metals Service Center Institute’s Metals Activity Report for February 2024 indicated steel shipments from service centers increased in the United States and Canada compared to a year ago. Aluminum shipments were down in the United States, but rose in Canada for the same period. Specifically, U.S. service center steel shipments in February 2024 increased 1.4 percent from February 2023 while shipments of aluminum products fell 1.2 percent. Canadian service center steel shipments rose 7.7 percent from February 2023 and shipments of aluminum products increased two percent.
• The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI), a gauge of future economic growth, rose 0.1 percent last month, its first increase in two years. Improved manufacturing employment, rising stock prices, and robust residential construction fueled the positive momentum, the Conference Board said, but worries about future economic growth are still a concern, as are rising consumer debt and high interest rates. Read the full report here.
• According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, manufacturing activity in its region continued to expand overall since the bank’s indicator for general activity edged lower, but remained positive. While the indices for shipments and new orders improved, the employment index did remain in negative territory.
• The number of new homes under construction in the United States increased 10.7 percent between January 2024 and February 2024 and 5.9 percent between February 2023 and February 2024. The number of new building permits also increased for both the month and the year. Read the full report here. In related news: U.S. existing-home sales surged 9.5 percent from January to February, the largest monthly increase since February 2023. Sales declined 3.3 percent year-over-year, however.
• The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 2,000 to 210,000 during the week that ended March 16. Averaged over the past four weeks, first-time claims increased to 211,250. In all, roughly 1.807 million people claimed jobless benefits in the United States during the week that ended March 9.
• Canada’s consumer price index increased 0.3 percent between January 2024 and February 2024 and 2.8 percent between February 2023 and February 2024.