SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index: Optimistic Readings, Pessimistic Comments

The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been treading water, albeit at optimistic levels, for the past six months. However, the attitudes of buyers and sellers about conditions in the steel market might be described as anywhere from cautious to tepid, judging by the comments provided in Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyers Sentiment Index questionnaire.

For the past 10 years, Steel Market Update has been working with a large group consisting of hundreds of buyers and sellers of flat rolled and plate steels. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current Index), as well as three to six months into the future (Future Index). We post our indices both as a single data point and as a three-month moving average, which tends to smooth out the numbers and provide a clearer view of the trend.