Steel Products
March 8, 2013
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index Slips to Lowest Level of the Year
Written by John Packard
Optimism waned this week as steel buyers and sellers toiled over price announcements, demand questions and a heightened sense of insecurity regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. Based on the results from our just completed steel market survey, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 6 points to +15 from our mid-February reading. Our Index is at the lowest point since the middle of October 2012 when Sentiment was measured at +9.
The steel industry is used to having the 1st Quarter of the year as one of the stronger, if not strongest quarters for business and price appreciation. This year has been an exception. SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is nowhere near the optimism levels reported during March 2012 or 2011. Sentiment was measured at +45 during the first week of March 2012 and a respectable +36 during the same period in 2011.
