The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States has been bouncing between positive and negative territory for the last four weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous […]
Last year I (Mario Briccetti) wrote an article in Steel Market Update on the subject of Conflict Materials. On August 4, the Wall Street Journal published a story on this subject, which started out by stating, “Hundreds of US Public companies are coming up short as they face a deadline to reveal whether their supply […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) reported their Steel Buyers Sentiment Index (current situation) to be unchanged from the last measurement made during the middle of July. The +56 being reported is down 2 points from the beginning of July and 12 points from the +68 reported at the beginning of August 2014. The Steel Buyers Sentiment […]
With the exception of Galvalume, steel mill lead times were reported as being essentially unchanged from what was reported during the middle of July by those who responded to this week’s SMU flat rolled survey. Hot rolled lead times continue to be one week shorter than what we measured one year ago and essentially unchanged […]
With the exception of Galvalume, all of the other flat rolled steels followed by Steel Market Update saw at least two-thirds of our survey respondents reporting the mills as willing to negotiate spot pricing. Eighty percent of those responding to our inquiries about hot rolled pricing termed the mills as willing to negotiate. Cold rolled […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States reverted back into positive territory following a negative dip last week. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average […]
Flat rolled steel prices, and the momentum associated with steel price movement, have been stuck for quite some time as you can see by our SMU Price Momentum at the top of the table below. As a result, our benchmark hot rolled price average is $3 per ton higher than what we reported at the […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) produces two series of articles focused on the buying and selling of flat rolled steel. Many of the articles can be found on our website under: Steel Buyers Basics or The Truth About Selling Steel. The following article is part of our Steel Buyers Basics series and is written by Mario […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States turned negative after a 9 week positive streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average spot price as […]
On Sunday we produced an article that was perhaps confusing to some of our readers. The article entitled: “Possible Strike Does Not Worry Buyers & Sellers of Steel” had an error in the graphic produced. Our survey results has 76 percent of those responding saying they are Not concerned about the possibility of a strike […]
At this point everyone wants to know if demand is growing and are inventories at a point where buyers will need to go into the market and begin buying again. The combination of growing demand and inventories that need to be replenished will be what drives flat rolled steel prices higher. Steel Market Update looks […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index continues to be modestly optimistic although less so than what the index was reporting one year ago. The trend for the proprietary index has been to move sideways in what might be considered a not too hot, not too cold marketplace. SMU looks at how buyers and […]
Domestic mill lead times are one of the keys followed by Steel Market Update as we evaluate steel prices and price momentum. A market where we see extending lead times tends to allow for the collection of higher steel prices throughout the industry (steel mills and distributors). When we see lead times collapsing we tend […]
Last week, Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral from Higher. A portion of that change was due to the domestic steel mills continuing to be willing to negotiate flat rolled steel pricing. In this week’s flat rolled steel market analysis, those responding to our questionnaire reported all but Galvalume as being […]
Last month, Steel Market Update forecast that June steel service center shipments of flat rolled steel would total 2,430,000 tons. The actual number, according to MSCI data, came in at 2,339,000 tons or 91,000 tons fewer than our forecast. The daily shipment rate for June, which is more accurate than keeping tabs on total month […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive for the ninth consecutive week, following a 39 week negative streak prior. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the […]
On Friday, Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. Now why did we go and do that? We have been stuck in a very tight trading range on most flat rolled steels since late April of this year. Benchmark hot rolled, which is used by most in the […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive (indicating higher prices) for the eighth consecutive week. This follows a 39 week negative streak (falling prices). MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil […]
Last week Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our early July flat rolled steel market analysis (survey). We invited just under 600 companies to participate in our questionnaire which covered such items as Sentiment, pricing trends, purchasing trends, inventories, lead times, negotiations and more. We placed two questions early during the survey process where we ask […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been measuring “Sentiment” or, how buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment as well as three to six months into the future. We concluded our analysis earlier today and have determined that those involved in the flat rolled steel industry […]
Even with a new price increase announcement out of US Steel (+$40) lead times remain flat compared to what we saw during the middle of June. All of the products, hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume lead times are shorter than what we reported at the beginning of July 2014. Hot rolled lead times […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) continues to collect data from manufacturing and distributors suggesting that the domestic steel mills are willing to negotiate flat rolled steel pricing for new spot orders. The weakest product is hot rolled steel where 76 percent of our respondents reported the mills as willing to negotiate steel prices. Prior to this […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive (indicating higher prices) for the seventh consecutive week. This follows a 39 week negative streak (falling prices). MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive (indicating higher prices) for the sixth consecutive week. This follows a 39 week negative streak (falling prices). MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil […]
A steel buyer is required to make buying decisions – often worth millions of dollars – on current market conditions and expectations of future market conditions. How does anyone do that well in an environment of uncertainty and constant change? One way to get an advantage is to be a “Learning Machine”. Here’s what Charlie […]
Before the ink had dried on last month’s service center flat rolled inventory “Apparent Excess/Deficit” report and forecast we knew our forecast was being a bit too optimistic. This was pointed out to us in an email from a large service center who has been following our Apparent Excess since the beginning. “I read with […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the United States was positive for the fifth consecutive week indicating that prices have been rising. This follows a 39 week negative streak (falling prices). MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. […]
SMU Sentiment Index Jumps Since our last flat rolled steel market analysis and evaluation of how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful both three to six months from now (Future) as well as in today’s economic environment (Current), we have had a second price increase and a dumping […]