SMU Data and Models
October 8, 2017
Service Centers Lowering Spot Prices
Written by John Packard
Over the course of the first four days of this past week (the week of Oct. 2, 2017), Steel Market Update conducted our early October flat rolled steel market trends analysis. One of the areas we track is how steel service centers are handling spot prices on flat rolled steel being sold to their customers. A growing percentage of manufacturing companies and flat rolled steel distributors reported service centers as lowering spot prices.
In SMU’s opinion, based on watching flat rolled steel spot prices out of the service center segment of the industry, the distributors’ support for spot prices is an important signal for prices in the greater flat rolled market – including for steel mill pricing.
