The US automotive industry's recovery is a tale of two trends - production and sales - and while a strong rebound in production has a more immediate impact on demand for steel, so far the bounce back has been greater in sales.
This has translated into a slower rebound in steel demand, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) chief economist Timothy Gill said. "The auto market situation has certainly been a negative hit. Shipments of [hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil], galvanized sheet, some bar products - they are all down on a year-over-year basis through the first five months of the year," he told Fastmarkets. "It's too early to confirm from the data, but it's likely that shipments to the auto industry have been rallying to some degree as auto production has picked back up," Gill added. The hit to steel has been concentrated in CRC and galvanized sheet, according to John Catterall, vice president of the automotive program at AISI. "Car and truck bodies are predominately constructed from cold-rolled material because gauges have been reduced due to lightweighting," he said. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US was at...