SMU Data and Models
August 21, 2016
SMU Flat Rolled Steel Market Trends Analysis
Written by John Packard
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-August flat rolled steel market trends analysis. For those new to our newsletter, we invite approximately 600 people representing about 550 companies to participate in our bi-monthly questionnaire. Our normal response rate is 100 to 150 people. Last week’s mix was 44 percent service centers, 43 percent manufacturing companies, 5 percent trading companies, 4 percent steel mills and 4 percent toll processors.
SMU has placed a question about what direction our respondents see flat rolled steel prices moving over the next couple of months. As you can see by the graphic below, our respondents are becoming more pessimistic about the ability of the steel mills to keep prices from dropping.
