SMU Data and Models
December 6, 2018
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index: Optimism Tempered
Written by John Packard
About 60 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire feel their chances for success are good, if not excellent, given the current business conditions and their views of the next three to six months. Nearly all the rest consider their prospects only fair. Uncertainty on the trade and economic fronts, and perhaps the volatility on Wall Street, seem to have tempered some of the steel industry’s optimism.
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). Results are posted as both a single data point and as a three-month moving average (3MMA), which smooths out the numbers and provides a clearer view of the trend.
