SMU Data and Models
July 16, 2019
Service Center Spot Prices to End Customers are Making the Turn
Written by John Packard
In Sunday’s issue of Steel Market Update, we adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator on flat rolled from Neutral to Higher. One of the justifications for that move was the Service Center Spot data we were collecting last week. In our analysis, we found a change in pricing mentality, not a 180 degree change, but a change nonetheless.
Manufacturing companies noted a change with 70 percent of them reporting distributor spot pricing as moving lower than what they saw two weeks earlier. This is 23 percentage points lower than what we saw in the middle of June (prior to any price announcements).
