Steel Market Update conducts a market survey every other week. Our survey is by invitation only to active buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel products within North America. Our invitation is sent to close to 700 companies - both manufacturers and service centers with a smattering of mills, trading companies and toll processors to get the full flavor of the market.

Steel Market Trends...

Our intention is to track trends - market momentum, Buyers Sentiment, inventory trends, purchasing trends, pricing trends and the general overall mood of the market. We keep track of the results and publish many of the items in our newsletter and on our website.

This week our SMU Buyers Sentiment was measured and we are reporting it to be -47% which is essentially unmoved from two weeks ago when we found it to be -45%. Those involved in the flat rolled business continue to remain negative about their companies position and the state of the steel markets.

Any Buyers Sentiment reading below 0 indicates buyers and sellers are not confident in their companies ability to grow their business in the current environment. So far this year, Buyers Sentiment has not reached into positive territory and the worst readings were achieved back in March at -85.4%.

Pricing momentum continues to trend lower this week as prices have declined on all products SMU indexes - hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume.

Even the CEO of U.S. Steel, John Surma mentioned in their earnings conference call on Tuesday afternoon the November price increases are holding and they can't "defy gravity" as the seasonal affects on the steel business come into play and prices level off or drop a bit.

If you are interested in learning more about specific prices and pricing trends you are welcome to register for a free trial to our newsletter which includes full access to our website. Go to www.steelmarketupdate.com for more information.