| Interesting Times for Steel as Building Permits Surge in May | |
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Key Macro Factors Driving the Global Steel Industry This Year (Continued from Prior Part) Housing market gains
In the previous part, we saw that housing starts in the United States dipped in May. In this part of the series, we’ll look at the recent trend in building permits. This will help investors better understand the trend in the US housing sector.
Building permits surge in May
To construct any building, a builder has to get a building permit from government authorities. Building permits act as a leading indicator of future activity in residential real estate. More permits mean more buildings are expected to be constructed in the future. The United States Census Bureau releases building permits data on a monthly basis.
In May, building permits increased by an impressive 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. You can see this surge in permits in the above graph. Compared to April, building permits increased 11.8% to reach a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.28 million, the highest level in the last eight years.
A positive sign for steel
An increase in building permits is positive for the US housing market and the steel industry. Steel companies like U.S. Steel (X), Nucor (NUE), and Steel Dynamics (STLD) benefit from a strong housing demand. The SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (XME) seeks to build a diversified portfolio of these companies. Worthington Industries (WOR) currently forms 3.63% of XME.
Next, we’ll look at metal service centers, a major distributor channel for steel companies. They act as a crucial link between steel companies and small end users of steel products. So steel investors watch metal service center inventory figures closely. In the next part, we’ll look at the May metal service center inventory report.
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United States Steel Corporation
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CODE : X |
ISIN : US9129091081 |
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ProfilIndicateurs de MarchéVALEUR : Projets & res.Communiqués de PresseRapport annuelRISQUE : Profile actifsContactez la cie |
United States Steel est une société de production minière de fer et de étain basée aux Etats-Unis D'Amerique. United States Steel est cotée aux Etats-Unis D'Amerique. Sa capitalisation boursière aujourd'hui est 6,4 milliards US$ (5,7 milliards €). La valeur de son action a atteint son plus bas niveau récent le 28 mars 2003 à 10,01 US$, et son plus haut niveau récent le 30 novembre 2007 à 98,85 US$. United States Steel possède 176 184 431 actions en circulation. |