SMU market survey results now available

If you need help accessing the survey results, or if your company would like to have your voice heard in our future surveys, contact info@steelmarketupdate.com.

Key points and takeaways

We go over the big highlights of the survey in Final thoughts. Here are some other key points that we think are worth your time. (And, again, our premium subscribers can follow along with the latest results here.)

• Steel Buyers’ Current Sentiment plunged to a four-year low (slide 9) – a reading not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. And Future Sentiment (slide 11) was eight points lower vs. the prior market check.
• Lead times remain short/normal (slide 13). And depending on the product, 77-95% of buyers surveyed said mills were willing to negotiate lower prices (slide 16).
• The scrap market is not yet showing signs of strength in demand (slide 19). More than half (56%) awaiting lower prices in July, with 40% expecting stable prices month on month.
• Again, one-third of respondents said they missed forecast last month (slide 20). More alarming might be that nearly no one (just 2%) exceeded forecast in June.
• Nearly three-quarters of service centers say they are releasing less steel (slide 28). And 82% say they are lowering prices. None say they are increasing them (slide 38).

There’s a lot more in there to unpack, but it seems we’re officially in the summer doldrums. Make sure to check out Final thoughts for some of the comments and key reactions directly from our sources.