Steel Products
SMU Service Center Inventories Drop to 2.19 Months
Written by John Packard
March 8, 2013
Based on the results of our latest SMU steel market survey, service center flat rolled inventories (as of this week) dropped from 2.37/2.33 in January and early February to 2.19 months. We did hear from service centers during the survey process of their continued focus on lowering inventories from these levels. SMU considers large, medium and small service centers as equals regarding inventories and we do not seasonally adjust our numbers. We defer to the MSCI data as being more complete but, we feel our quick snapshot analysis provides an early look into what you can expect out of the MSCI data once released.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products

Active rig counts slipped in US, Canada
Drilling activity slowed in the US and Canada last week, according to the latest oil and gas rig count data released by Baker Hughes.

OCTG producers in Canada take aim at Mexico, US, others
Evraz NA and Welded Tube of Canada have lodged an unfair trade complaint against imports of OCTG, including those from USMCA trading partners Mexico and the US.

Final Thoughts
The difference: The spat with Turkey was a big deal for steel. This time, the 50% reciprocal tariff for Brazil – if it goes into effect as threatened on Aug.1 – hits everything from coffee and to pig iron. It seems almost custom-built to inflict as much pain as possible on Brazil.

CRU: US rebar and wire rod prices rise alongside S232 increase
CRU Senior Steel Analyst Alexandra Anderson discusses current market and pricing dynamics for long steel products in the US.
CRU: Excessive global supply could hit rebar mill investments in US
Following the onset of the war in Ukraine in March 2022, concerns about import availability and expectations of rising demand from President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill pushed US rebar prices to record highs. In response, a flurry of new mills and capacity expansions were announced to meet the rise in demand from growth in the construction […]