Service Centers
March 23, 2014
SMU Survey Catches Early Changes in Service Center Spot Pricing
Written by John Packard
One of the keys watched by Steel Market Update is service center spot pricing into their customers – especially the manufacturing segment of the industry. We have found if service centers are lowering their spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels, especially after a price increase announcement, it is more difficult for the domestic mills to get flat rolled steel price increases to stick.
With the flat rolled steel price announcement coming on Monday afternoon (March 17th) we believe our survey results will provide a good barometer of what the service centers were doing at the time of the announcements.
