Steel Products Prices North America
November 4, 2013
Service Centers Frustrated as End Users Balk at Paying Higher Prices
Written by John Packard
A certain level of frustration appears to be hitting the service centers in both the spot and contract markets. In the spot market we have heard from a number of service centers that their attempts to raise spot steel prices are being met with a certain level of disbelief as end users evaluate how to perceive the current market. A large Midwest flat rolled service center told us in an email:
“With the current market uncertainty, questions arise daily about when, what and how much to buy. The vast majority of our customers do not feel the recent price increases will stick, however, if you solely look at current demand you are only seeing a small piece of the overall puzzle. Inventories are lean, new mill leadership has something to prove, and there are routine outages taking place that will curb capacity. Does anyone realize that we are only one trade case or one unplanned mill outage away from a crisis market?”
