SMU Data and Models

Flat Rolled Steel Survey Says!
Written by John Packard
October 23, 2015
As a Premium level member (or free trial) Steel Market Update provides access to a large portion of the flat rolled steel market survey results we generate twice per month throughout the year. We feel this is a key piece to your Premium membership and we want to make sure that you are taking advantage of the information being provided.
To access the survey results Power Point presentation, go to our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com, log into your account and then go to the Analysis tab. In the drop down screen go over to the Survey Results column and then click on Latest Survey results (Analysis-Survey Results-Latest Survey Results). You must be logged into the website in order to get to the Latest Survey Results page (when not logged in it says Full Survey Results Sample).
As many of you are well aware, John Packard, the founder and publisher of Steel Market Update spent 31 years actively buying, selling and at an executive level within the flat rolled steel industry. During his 31 years he created many relationships with steel buyers as well as knowledge about the industry.
We use both as we build each steel survey. First, those invited are qualified before being added to the list of invitees to participate in the survey process. The total number of invitees is just under 600 companies.
Second, we add specific questions regarding the trends that are affecting the industry right now to compliment those questions that are asked on a regular basis. We are building trend models that can be clearly tracked with the graphics provided to our Premium members and we are asking many of the questions that those involved in the industry are trying to figure out on a daily basis.
There are some very definitive trends which have been growing over the past few months. We are seeing demand as under stress, we are finding service centers as reducing spot prices in an effort to remove inventories and we are finding both service centers and manufacturing companies as less inclined to buy foreign steel right now. These are just a few examples of the data we provide to our Premium members and much of this data is not published in our newsletter or website.
We published this week’s steel survey results on our website earlier today and it is available for review by our Premium members (and free trials).

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models

SMU Survey: Current Buyers’ Sentiment Index jumps, Future Sentiment slips
SMU’s Current Buyers’ Sentiment Index rocketed up this week, while the Future Buyers’ Sentiment Index edged down. The two indices are almost at parity.

SMU Survey: Mill lead times stretch to 10-month highs
Buyers responding to our latest market survey reported that steel mill lead times were stretching out this week for sheet and plate products tracked by SMU. The results weren’t much of a surprise. Production times have begun moving out following a wave of frenzied buying in response to stricter Section 232 announced by the Trump […]

SMU Survey: Mills slam door on buyers looking to talk price
Mills’ flexibility on price for spot orders has taken a nosedive to levels not seen since the end of March 2023.

SMU Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment indicates increased optimism
After reaching multi-month lows in mid-January, SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices rebounded this week to some of the highest readings recorded in months.

SMU Survey: Mill lead times fluctuate, extensions expected
While we have seen some movements in recent weeks, steel mill production times remain within a few days of the historical lows observed over the last two years, a trend observed since mid-2024.