Final Thoughts

As I searched through my service center contacts to see if I could get confirmation of someone actually having made a price move, I learned from a distributor that a mill (not the one suggested to me at the beginning of my thoughts) was suggesting the increase was coming soon. When asked about “X” mill, we were told, “Not to my knowledge, but Nucor is advising to expect one ‘shortly.’ Mills are testing action @ $28, and I think there’s a little competition by mills to try to get a cushion, do an increase, and hope they can glide to year end. Problem is there’s too much tied up in contracts, leaving less Spot available to place, and mills are grumbling that most buyers are only sending in contract minimum levels, which is creating additional space to fill.”

From SMU’s perspective, we look at a number of keys to see if it is time for an increase (will it be supported by the service centers) and do lead times and negotiation positions out of the mills signal a justification and then a determination to take prices higher?

We are in the process of conducting our mid-October flat rolled steel market trends analysis and the factors mentioned above are part of that process. We will report the results in Thursday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update. Maybe by then the smoke will begin to clear (or more may be added) and we will get a sense of whether the steel mills think now is the time to move, or should they wait a couple more weeks?

The next two days will be busy ones as we dig in to see who did raise pricing, how high does that mill(s) want prices to go and what do the steel buyers think about the chances of the mills to succeed.

Stay tuned to SMU for more details.

As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher