SMU Data and Models

SC Flash Report: First View for June Sees Inventories Flat
Written by John Packard
July 5, 2018
The following report is normally provided to data providers and Premium level members of Steel Market Update:
Steel Market Update began collecting flat rolled and plate inventories information from our participating service centers beginning on Monday of this week. The following is our “Flash” report, which is derived from at least 50 percent of the respondents, and provides a snapshot of what we anticipate when we receive all of the data. The headline finding: inventories have remained essentially flat compared to May.
Flat Rolled Number of Months of Supply Unchanged
With 57 percent of the respondents reporting, flat rolled inventories are trending toward 2.7 months of supply, which is basically flat compared to the 2.66 months (rounded to 2.7) reported for the end of May.
Of the reporting distributors, 46 percent reported inventories as higher, 42 percent reported inventories as lower and 12 percent reported inventories as the same.
Plate Number of Months of Supply Saw Slight Rise in Inventories
With 56 percent of the registered plate providers reporting, the trend is for plate inventories to rise from 2.0 months at the end of May to 2.3 months now.
Of those reporting, 40 percent had higher inventories, 40 percent had lower inventories and 20 percent reported inventories as the same as the prior month.
Steel Market Update anticipates having the full report done early next week.

John Packard
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