April 10, 2023
This is the Commodities, Scrap Metal, Recycling and Economic Report. Brought to you by BENLEE roll-trailers, gondola trailers and roll-off truck parts, April 10th, 2023.
U.S. weekly raw steel production fell to 1.658MT, a 74.2% capacity utilization. This was as the U.S. manufacturing economy continues to slow.
WTI crude oil price rose to $80.70/b. on OPEC production cuts and low weekly U.S oil stockpiles.
The U.S. weekly oil rig count fell to 590. The low count is keeping production steady.
U.S. weekly crude oil production was steady to 12.2Mb/d and might rise slowly with OPEC’s recent major cut. U.S. exports of oil hit their 2nd highest on record for the week and imports while high are not near the record.
Scrap steel #1 HMS price fell to about $370/GT on slowing demand and good supply.
Hot-rolled coil steel price rose to $59.00/cwt, $1,180/T on a tight supply and moderate demand.
Copper price fell to $4.01/lb., on a slowing economy, but concerns of a tight supply.
Aluminum price fell to $1.06/lb., $2,333/mt on a slowing economy, but with record Chinese production.
U.S. March new jobs created fell to 236,000 which was a slowing but good number. Leisure and hospitality rose, and warehousing and retail fell.
U.S. March unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, near the 50 year low. The Federal Reserve says this could go to 4.5% later this year on the slowing economy.
U.S. March Average hourly earnings increased 4.2% vs. last year. This was the smallest increase in about two years. The Federal Reserve is working to slow the economy to decrease this number.
U.S. March civilian labor force, rose to 166.7M the highest in American history. More people working is great, but the government is trying to create unemployment to slow inflation.
U.S. March labor force participation rate which is people 16 years old or older that are working or looking for work. It rose slightly to 62.6%. We need early retirement people back to work. People simply not looking for work remains hurting the economy.
Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 271 points to 33,545 on concerns about slowing growth continues.
For those that know me to be a workaholic, ready to do anything to ensure safety, customer service and to support our team, I did take some time this weekend to read to my grandson Benjamin that at 20 months is talking up a storm.
As always, feel free to call or email me with any questions and we hope all have a safe and profitable week.