Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-June flat rolled steel market analysis. We sent invitations to slightly more than 600 companies which are involved in the flat rolled steel industries as buyers, sellers or toll processors of the steel. The participants in last week’s analysis came from the manufacturing industry (45 percent), service center/wholesalers […]
Flat rolled steel mill lead times continue to be extended compared to one year ago according to the results of the SMU steel survey completed late last week. Hot rolled lead times average 4.59 weeks, which is about the same as what was reported at the beginning of the month of June. One year ago […]
Based on the results of our survey from this past week, steel mills were actively discussing steel prices and our survey respondents were reporting mills as willing to negotiate pricing. When looking at hot rolled the percentage of respondents reporting mills as willing to negotiate pricing rose from 86 percent at the beginning of June […]
The fact that steel prices have been moderating and, in some cases, moving lower has not dented the enthusiasm buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are showing based on the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The latest market analysis is pegging Sentiment at +57, up 3 points from our last measurement conducted […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S turned negative this week after being in positive territory for the previous ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average […]
We have all been through them – the dreaded “Lobby Call” – that impersonal sales call in the office of a potential steel buyer in the hope of being able to spend a few moments of quality time and, instead, the interaction between salesman and buyer is relegated to the lobby of the company. The […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the tenth week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
A short note to let our Premium Level members know that our Steel Market Update survey results are online and can be accessed on the website. If you need assistance accessing any of the Premium products on our website please let me or Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com know and we will help you. We are also sharing this […]
SMU Price Momentum Indicator Adjusted to Lower from Neutral: Steel Market Update conducted our early June flat rolled steel market analysis this past week. The results of our survey, coupled with information being gathered independently of our survey have prompted SMU to revise our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral. We now believe […]
From time to time Steel Market Update writes an article that seems to touch the collective nerve of the steel community. A number of our articles which we have published under the “Steel Buyers Basics” title fit in that category. The article we have shared with both our Steel Market Update members as well as […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is at +54 this week and continues to be well within the optimistic range for the index. Even though the index dropped 8 points from the all-time high recorded during the middle of May, the growing optimistic trend continues as our three month moving average improved to […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is at +54 this week and continues to be well within the optimistic range for the index. Even though the index dropped 8 points from the all-time high recorded during the middle of May, the growing optimistic trend continues as our three month moving average improved to […]
According to the results of our latest flat rolled steel market survey just completed earlier today, mill lead times are slowly beginning to move in (get shorter) on almost all products followed by Steel Market Update. Our respondents reported shorter lead times on hot rolled which were at 4.91 weeks on the 15th of May […]
As mentioned in the article on steel mill lead times included in this newsletter, we tend to see steel mills as more willing to negotiate steel prices as order books begin to get leaner and lead times begin to shrink. We are seeing some retrenchment of lead times and, at the same time, our recent […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 9th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
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 at present is thirty five, the Chicago Fed Mid-West Manufacturing Index is still on hold to enable the staff to complete a major re-vamp of the […]
With the exception of SteelBenchmarker which only supplies steel indices twice per month, all of the other indexes showed flat rolled steel averages as being either the same or down slightly compared to one week ago. Perhaps the most surprising has been Platts which by the end of this past week had taken its benchmark […]
This article is part of a series of articles written by John Packard originally under the heading “Steel Buyers Basics.” Recent articles have focused on the steel sales process, but sales and purchasing are connected. The fact that my experience is associated with the flat rolled steel markets and products does not detract from the […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 8th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
Records seem to be breaking just about every time we measure how flat rolled steel buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. There has been a growing optimism within the steel community as business conditions improve for most market segments. This optimism is reported in our […]
Steel mill lead times remained extended (or from a mill perspective, at reasonable levels) on all products. Benchmark hot rolled lead times averaged 4.91 weeks which is essentially unchanged from the 5.00 weeks reported at the beginning of May. Last year at this time HRC lead times averaged 3.03 weeks. We are running approximately 2 […]
Lead times are reported as being relatively stable compared to two weeks ago, but down slightly from the cycle highs which were achieved within the past two months. Our manufacturing and service center respondents reported the domestic steel mills as becoming more flexible in their flat rolled steel price negotiations. Fifty percent of the manufacturing […]
Lead times are reported as being relatively stable compared to two weeks ago, but down slightly from the cycle highs which were achieved within the past two months. Our manufacturing and service center respondents reported the domestic steel mills as becoming more flexible in their flat rolled steel price negotiations. Fifty percent of the manufacturing […]
Demand is continuing to improve according to participants in our Steel Market Update (SMU) mid-May Steel Market Survey. Just over half of our respondents, 50.49 percent, said steel demand is improving, up from 47 percent in mid-April and less than one quarter in mid-March. This month we polled a group consisting mainly of manufacturing companies […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 7th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. However, the Index dropped 2.06 percent in one week after dropping 0.54 percent the week prior. MoMo, a trailing indicator, […]
On Wednesday, Steel Market Update adjusted our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral from Higher. Our Price Momentum Indicator had been pointing toward Higher prices ever since March 25, 2014. Over the past seven weeks, hot rolled coil prices advanced from $630 to a high of $685 per ton based on the Steel Market Update […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 6th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
Flat rolled steel buyers and sellers of steel have split personalities–believing the domestic steel mills will officially raise prices to the $700 level on hot rolled while at the same time believing that prices will essentially trend sideways from here between now and the first of June. Last week Steel Market Update conducted our early […]
For the first time since Steel Market Update began surveying the flat rolled steel industry, a majority of our respondents are reporting demand as “improving.” As you can see by the timeline shown in the graphic below, the optimistic trend for demand growth began to pick up steam during late 1st Quarter 2014 and momentum […]
Buyers and sellers of steel continue to grow in their belief that their company will be successful in both the existing market as well as out into the future. A new record high for our Index was achieved this week as our Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +59. This […]