Producer Price Indexes, (PPI): Sheet Steel and Competing Materials

Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Friday reported August results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. For the purpose of this report, Steel Market Update extracts comparative statistics for sheet steel, aluminum and plastic products.  The headline on Friday was that the composite PPI rose 0.3 percent in August, after being flat in July and advancing in May and June. Finished energy goods and food prices drove the August headline index higher despite continued weakness in core goods prices.  

Moody’s reported as follows in Economy.com: “Headline producer prices rose at a healthy pace in August, defying the forecast decline. Finished food prices were surprisingly strong thanks to spikes in isolated categories. The strength is unlikely to persist, however, as crude foods including key crops such as corn and soybeans suffered steep sell offs last month. Producer prices at early stages of production were generally weak in August.