Predicting Steel Price Movement

The following article is a continuation of our Steel Buyers Basics series written by Mario Briccetti.  Mario is Principal of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and can be reached at Mario@mbriccetti.com. Briccetti wrote the following article as part of our Steel Buyers Basics series of articles, many of which can be found in our website under the “Resources” tab. Briccetti, a former Vice President of Purchasing for Metal Sales, Gibraltar Strip Steel and Nordyne, was asked to write about predicting steel price movement from a steel buyer’s perspective. Here is what he had to say:

In preparation for my new position as instructor for Steel Market Update’s Steel 101 workshop, John Packard (Publisher of SMU) and I were discussing “typical patterns” of steel prices during a calendar year. In the past, flat rolled steel prices had a tendency to go down in 4th Quarter and then rise during the 1st Quarter. This year and last year have not followed that trend and, in reality every year stands on its own merits. Making pricing predictions based on a few years of market patterns is not a good buying strategy.