SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment: Small Step Back, But Still Positive

Industry sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, took a small step back in the past two weeks, but remains at healthy readings well above recent lows as well as this time last year. With demand and steel prices on the upturn, buyers are still feeling relatively positive about the slowly improving market conditions.

SMU asks steel buyers how they view their company’s chances for success in the current environment. The Current Sentiment reading dipped by 5 points over the past two weeks to a reading of +56. That’s still up 22 points compared to the first week in August when the index had dipped to +34. Current Sentiment has recovered dramatically from a low of -8 in the first week of April when the coronavirus disruption was at its worst. Current sentiment is much healthier than this time last year when it registered a weak +29.