Economy
November 21, 2013
Producer Price Indexes of Sheet Steel and Competing Materials
Written by John Packard
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 Thursday reported October 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, SMU extracts comparative statistics for sheet steel, aluminum and plastic products. The headline on Thursday was that the composite PPI fell 0.2 percent in October, declining for the second straight month. A sharp drop in energy prices undermined gains in food and core finished goods producer prices.
