Steel Products Prices North America
June 13, 2017
SMU Survey: Service Center Spot Prices at Odds with Mill Price Increases
Written by John Packard
Anxiety reigns supreme in the flat rolled steel industry as both buyers and sellers grapple with the unknowns brought on by the Section 232 investigation. One area of concern is how service centers are handling spot sales to their end user customers. In the flat rolled steel market trends analysis we performed last week, we saw a decreasing price trend for spot sales into the manufacturing segment of the industry (see first graph below).
The trend had not yet reached the point of “capitulation,” which Steel Market Update (SMU) has pegged to be when approximately 75 percent of service center respondents report spot prices in decline. We also did not collect a sharp uptick in those reporting spot prices on the rise. Last week was a very mixed market with no clear direction. More service center respondents reported declining spot prices into their end user customers than those who reported a rising price trend.
