Manufacturers Optimistic On Demand & Order Flows

Forty-seven percent of manufacturing companies responding to last week’s steel survey reported demand as showing improvement over the next three months based on current order flows.

During the survey, we asked the entire group being questioned, which consisted of manufacturing companies (44 percent), service centers (40 percent), steel mills (5 percent), trading companies (5 percent), toll processors (5 percent) and suppliers to the industry (1 percent), if demand was improving. As a group 25 percent responded that it was indeed improving while 12 percent felt it was in decline. The balance felt demand remained the same as previous months.