SMU Market Trends: Prices on an Upward Trajectory?

Domestic mills are in the driver’s seat and steel prices have nowhere to go but up, agreed most respondents to Steel Market Update’s flat roll market trends questionnaire this week.

SMU contacts steel buyers twice each month to monitor their views on market conditions. Asked for their opinion on the current direction of steel prices, none said they expect prices to move lower. The majority (58 percent) said they believe prices will move higher, while 42 percent said there is still no clear price direction in the marketplace. Note that buyers responded prior to the mill price increase announcements later in the week.