Steel Pricing Commentary: Don't Get Lulled by the Happy Headlines

Steel Market Update does not forecast steel prices. That’s a fact that can sometimes get lost in all the pricing data we publish. Please don’t let the good news and happy headlines you’ve been reading in SMU every week make you complacent. It’s convenient to listen to the many readers quoted in this newsletter who predict a second half much like the first. But don’t count on it.

SMU surveys service center and OEM executives each week to find out how much they have paid for steel recently or, barring a purchase, what the mills were offering. Based on their responses, we come up with a price range and calculate the average price tag for the various flat rolled and plate products in the prior week. We even go so far as to indicate whether prices appear to have upward or downward short-term momentum. But we are never going to tell you what the price of steel will be next week.