SMU Data and Models

March SMU Comparison Price Indices: All Lower Except One
Written by John Packard
April 2, 2014
Every month we track a number of the other steel indexes including the two used the most for contract adjustments: CRU and Platts. We had some interesting results as the month of March closed as all of the indices showed declines (compared to the end of the prior month) in hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel pricing. The only exception being Platts which was pretty consistent with their higher priced outlook as the month progressed and especially immediately after the announced price increases during the week of March 17th.
As you can see there is quite a spread between the various indexes on benchmark hot rolled. As the month closed CRU was at $620 (which is where SMU was the week before), SMU closed the month at $630, SteelBenchmarker $646 and Platts at $655 per ton.
Plate prices rose during the month – and all the indexes agreed on that one product…

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models

SMU Survey: Buyers’ Sentiment tumbles as caution increases
SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices resumed their downward trend this week, erasing the modest recovery seen two weeks ago.

Service centers: Mill orders down further in April
SMU’s Mill Order Index (MOI) declined for a second straight month in April after repeated gains at the start of the year, according to our latest service center inventories data.

SMU Survey: Mill lead times edge lower
Sheet and plate lead times declined across the board this week, according to buyers responding to the latest SMU market survey. While our lead time ranges were unchanged compared to mid-April levels, average production times for each steel product we measure have declined from they were two weeks ago.

SMU Survey: Most buyers say price negotiations back on the table
Domestic mills are largely negotiable on spot prices, according to the majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey.

SMU Scrap Survey: Current, Future Sentiment Indices log declines
However, in a month plagued by tariff and economic uncertainty, both current and near-term outlooks for our scrap survey respondents remained surprisingly optimistic.