Made In America: U.S. Factory Production Rises In July

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U.S. FACTORY PRODUCTION RISES IN JULY
U.S. industrial production rose in July as manufacturing output in the auto industry ramped up to keep up with increasing new car sales, according to the Federal Reserve’s monthly industrial production report.

Overall, U.S. industrial production rose 0.6% in July after moving up 0.1% in June. Manufacturing output advanced 0.8% primarily because of an increase in motor vehicle assemblies. The output of motor vehicles and parts jumped 10.6%, and production elsewhere in manufacturing edged up 0.1%

Most major market groups recorded gains in July. The largest increase was in the output of consumer goods, which rose 1.2%. This gain was largely attributable to an increase of 10.9% in the production of automotive products. The index for mining rose 0.2%, while the index for utilities fell one point at 107.5% of its 2012 average. Total industrial production in July was 1.3% above its year-earlier level.

The output of other durables declined 0.2%, as decreases for machinery, for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, and for miscellaneous manufacturing outweighed increases elsewhere.

JAPANESE SPORTING EQUIPMENT GIANT OPENS HIGH-TECH MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN U.S.
Mizuno USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese sporting goods giants Mizuno Corp., announced Saturday that it has fully transitioned all distribution and manufacturing operations to a new high-tech facility in Barrow County, Ga.

The new 520,000-square-foot facility located in Braselton, Ga. significantly increases the current supply chain footprint to fulfill and sustain ongoing business growth, supply chain demand and morphing customer base and consumer buying behavior. The facility also includes all Mizuno golf club manufacturing for the North American market.

“Decisions of this magnitude are not made lightly. This multi-million dollar IT and distribution infrastructure investment will play a major role in our continued growth,” said Josh Creasman, Vice President of Supply Chain, Mizuno USA. “It was a comprehensive process to find our distribution and manufacturing home for the next decade. From a network optimization study detailing logistics infrastructure of the region connected to our customer base, to the proximity of the Mizuno USA corporate offices and talented team, there were big advantages to selecting Braselton as our distribution hub for the North American region.”

TYSON FOODS TO CLOSE SLAUGHTER-ONLY BEEF PLANT IN IOWA, CUT 400 JOBS
Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith told the media during the Aug. 3 earnings call that it planned to stand by its beef division, despite the lack of fed cattle driving beef prices higher and processing margins lower. On Friday, (Aug. 14) the meat giant announced plans to close its last remaining slaughter-only plant located in Denison, Iowa, which will eliminate roughly 400 jobs.

AMT: JUNE MANUFACTURING TECH ORDERS RISE, BUT CONCERNS AHEAD
June U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $355.43 million according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 4.6% from May’s $339.86 million but down 13.2% when compared with the total of $409.68 million reported for June 2014. With a year-to-date total of $2.158 billion, 2015 was down 8.7% when compared with 2014.

“This monthly boost in orders is good news at face value, but belies an overall sense of concern in U.S. manufacturing,” said AMT President Douglas K. Woods. “There was noteworthy activity in the aerospace, off road/highway construction, automotive, and contract machining industries. But if not for a dozen or so standout orders from those industries, it could have been another down month. Economic uncertainty both here and internationally continues to cause concern and hesitation to invest in capital equipment, yet opportunities remain within several core industry sectors.”

Click here to see the full report.

U.S. STEEL SHIPMENTS UP 8.1% IN JUNE
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that for the month of June 2015, U.S. steel mills shipped 7,758,087 net tons, an 8.1% increase from the 7,175,211 net tons shipped in the previous month, May 2015, and a 6.4% decrease from the 8,291,823 net tons shipped in June 2014. Shipments year-to-date in 2015 are 43,980,293 net tons, a 9.8% decrease vs. 2014 shipments of 48,777,146 net tons for six months.

A comparison of June shipments to the previous month of May shows the following changes: hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip up 14%, hot rolled sheet up 12%, and cold rolled sheets up 9%.