Economy
July 8, 2015
ISM Steel Buyers Expecting Higher Demand for Products
Written by Sandy Williams
Steel buyers in the ISM Steel Buyers Survey continue to be cautiously optimistic that general economic activity will improve over the next six months. In the June survey, 38.5 percent of buyers expect economic conditions to improve, up from 30.8 percent in the May survey. However, 61.5 percent expect unchanged conditions during the period, up from 53.8 percent in the previous survey. No one the latest survey suggested conditions would worsen.
The percentages improve when buyer were asked about the trend of sales and production in the steel industry for the next six months. The percentage of buyers expecting orders and production to be up nearly doubled from 23.1 in May to 53.8 in the June survey. The remaining 46.2 percent expect the trend to remain unchanged.
