• Skip to main content

    Distributors/Service Centers

    August 8, 2017

    Service Center Inventories Based on SMU Analysis

    Written by John Packard

    Steel Market Update (SMU) has been expanding our analysis of flat rolled steel service center inventories in an effort to provide a second opinion on this key subject for both buyers and sellers.

    We continue to review inventory levels through the use of our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire that we distribute twice per month. We usually get approximately 50 service centers of various sizes participating in any one query. We have found over the years that the steel service centers responding tend to keep their inventories in a range from 1.75 months to as high as 3.5 months. We then average all of the numbers (not weighted) to come up with our months on hand average, which this past week was 2.34 months supply.

    John Packard

    Read more from John Packard

    Latest in Distributors/Service Centers

    SMU Profile: Worthington’s Gilmore speaks on ‘tough’ market, Kloeckner integration

    Worthington Steel Chief Executive Geoff Gilmore said this is the toughest steel market he's seen in his nearly three decades in the industry. Gilmore, president and CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Worthington Steel, recently spoke to SMU about the progression of the company’s acquisition of Germany-based Kloeckner & Co, as well as trends he’s seeing in the market and in the service center space. “I've been in the business for 28 years, and this is the toughest market that I've encountered,” Gilmore told SMU. He cited factors such as stretched lead times, mill consolidation, maintenance outages, and very limited imports affecting availability.

    SMU Survey: Buyers push price peak expectations later despite competitive imports

    Buyers in SMU’s latest Flat-Rolled Steel Survey increasingly expect hot-rolled (HR) coil prices to keep climbing into year-end and beyond. But competitive import offers have not yet eased concerns about tight availability: most surveyed manufacturers and service centers said foreign suppliers were quoting competitive prices, while many service centers said they were still buying imports to secure additional tons. As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, current spot prices for HR coil range from $1,280 per short ton (st) to $1,330/st, averaging $1,305/st, according to SMU’s market survey. Looking two months ahead, 41% of respondents to our Oct. 28 survey expected HR coil prices to be $1,300-1,349 per short ton (st) in two months, down from 47% in our survey two weeks earlier.

    National Material acquires Arlington Metals, companies see a win-win

    National Material Company has completed its acquisition of Arlington Metals Corp., the companies said in a joint press release. National Materials, a service center based in East Chicago, Ind., said the acquisition of Arlington Metals, a Franklin Park, Ill.-based toll processor, will allow it to serve customers across a broader range of markets and metals. "Arlington Metals is a great fit for us," said Blake Johnson, president of National Material.

    SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available

    The results of the latest Steel Market Update (SMU) flat-rolled market survey are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in, look under the Data tab for Market Reports, and there you will find the Flat-Rolled Survey Results section. Previous survey results are also available on that page. If you need help accessing these results, or if your company would like to have your voice heard in our future surveys, contact smu@crugroup.com.