Service Centers

SMU Service Center Inventories at Lowest Level of the Year
Written by John Packard
November 10, 2013
Steel Market Update (SMU) asked those distributors participating in our twice monthly steel market survey to advise us how many months of flat rolled steel they have on hand. We do not pretend to possess the data base of the MSCI and we defer to their data base – especially in the case of the larger service centers.
Steel Market Update does not weigh the data based on the size of the company. Each company is treated equally and the data compiled provides a snap-shot which we believe is valuable when considering if flat rolled inventories are perceived to be short tons, balanced or in excess.
In our most recent survey results we found the service centers inventories as averaging 2.04 months which is the lowest level we have found since 4th Quarter 2011.
In the graphic below we have provided MSCI seasonally adjusted (blue line) and not adjusted (green) for you to analyze along with our results. The MSCI data is as of the end of September as they have not yet published October results.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Service Centers

Galvanized steel prices slip while demand remains flat: HARDI
Galvanized steel prices dipped to ~$48/hundredweight in August from the $50-59/hundredweight range during the month of July.

Mill Steel relocating Texas facility to Port of Houston
Mill Steel Co. announced it is relocating its Houston operations to a bigger facility at the Port of Houston.

Olympic taps Anza for GM role at Connecticut location
Olympic Steel Inc. has promoted Vincent Anza to the role of general manager for its Milford, Conn., facility.

Friedman Industries’ profits jump in its fiscal Q1
Friedman Industries’ fiscal first-quarter earnings nearly doubled from a year ago.

Russel Metals hits recent revenue high as Q2 shipments surge
Russel Metals posted its strongest quarterly revenue in three years, fueled by higher steel prices, steady demand, and near-record shipments across its service center network.