According to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on April 16, the number of private housing starts in the United States in March, although up 1.4 percent from the same period last year, fell 22.3 percent from a month earlier, the biggest month-on-month decline since 1984, indicating that the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia has begun to cause huge damage to the U.S. real estate market
In March, the U.S. received construction permits at a seasonally adjusted annualized level of 1.35 million homes ,6.8% below the 1.45 million revised in February. Construction permits are seen as future indicators of the housing market. In addition, in March, the number of homes completed in the United States, adjusted for seasonal factors, reached an annualized level of 1.23 million, down 6.1 percent from 1.31 million in February and 9.0 per cent from 1.35 million in the same period last year
The american supply management association(ISM) reported a manufacturing pmi of 49.1 in march, down for the second consecutive month, from 50.9 in January and 50.1 in February. ISM manufacturing pmi have a significant impact on the U.S. economic boom and dollar trends
On 1 April, the American Steel Structure Association, the American Iron and Steel Association, the American Iron and Steel Manufacturers Association, the Steel Tube Import Committee and the North American Special Steel Association sent a joint letter to the United States Congress urging it to step up infrastructure investment in the next phase of legislation to deal with the outbreak of new crown pneumonia, providing an effective way for the economic recovery of the United States. Until later this year, U.S. companies will not feel the full impact of the new crown-pneumonia outbreak on the economy, as social isolation measures continue to slow economic activity in manufacturing and construction while saving lives, the agency said. The start of long-term, robust investments in infrastructure will not only meet the needs of the emergency transport system, but will also create well-paid jobs that will enable businesses and households to recover from extreme economic shocks
Taking U.S. road and bridge construction as an example, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s national bridge list ,38 percent of the 616,000 bridges in the United States need to be replaced or repaired. Demand for steel can be boosted by including infrastructure investment as a key component in the next stimulus package and by providing for the use of steel produced in the United States. The supply chain of steel products for infrastructure construction, such as roads and bridges, begins with U.S. steel producers, who sell steel directly or through national distributors to construction firms and steel-structure manufacturers, creating jobs and driving the economy back into recovery
In the week ending April 11, U.S. steel-industry capacity utilization fell from 68.5 percent in the previous week to 56.1 percent, the lowest since August 2008, according to the American Steel Association. Crude steel production in the Northeast (down 46.4%), the Great Lakes (down 21.7%), the Midwest (down 12.2%), the South (down 7.6%), and the West (down 12%) declined for the second straight week to its lowest level since the week ended November 21,2011
Overall, crude steel production in the United States fell 18.1 per cent to 1.256 million tons in the week ended April 11, down 33.6 per cent from a year earlier. Since the beginning of the year, crude steel production in the United States has been 26.323 million short tons, down 4.9 percent from a year earlier, with an average capacity utilization rate of 77.9 percent, compared with 81.5 percent in the same period last year
Post time: Apr-26-2020