SMU Survey: More Steel Buyers Report Weakening Demand

This week’s SMU survey results show a big jump in the number of respondents reporting dwindling demand.

When asked how they are seeing demand for their products, 40% of respondents said demand is declining. That was a jump from the 26% reporting falling demand in the prior two surveys and from only 5% early in the second quarter. (See first chart below.) It is also the highest number of people reporting lower demand since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. (See second chart below.)

Construction

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

Laura Miller

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