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    Analysis

    Biden Signs Supply Chain EO Amid Fears of Q2 Chip Shortages

    Written by Michael Cowden


    President Joe Biden has signed an executive order officially implementing a U.S. supply chain review for critical products such as semiconductors – a lack of which has led to widespread automotive production outages.

    “Recent shortages of automotive semiconductor chips have forced slowdowns at car manufacturing plants, highlighting how shortages can hurt U.S. workers,” the White House said in a press release.

    Michael Cowden

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    SMU Survey: Current Buyers’ Sentiment rises slightly as Future Sentiment dips

    SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index ticked up slightly this week, while Future Sentiment fell, according to our latest market survey. Every two weeks, SMU polls thousands of steel-industry executives, asking them to rate their companies’ chances of success today and also three to six months down the road. We use their responses to calculate our proprietary Current and Future Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices, measures tracked since 2008.

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    SMU Survey: Mill willingness to negotiate price at lowest levels since 2021

    The majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey reported that mills continue to hold a firm grip on prices. The share of buyers reporting that mills were negotiable fell this week to the lowest rate seen in over five years. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers asking if mills are negotiable on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, just 3% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down 11 percentage points from our mid-October survey.