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    Market Segment

    Olympic Steel: Historic, Record-Breaking Results in Q2

    Written by David Schollaert


    Olympic Steel reported record sales and the most profitable quarter in company history. The achievement in the service center’s second quarter was bolstered by exceptional market conditions and historically high metal prices, the company said.

    Driven by higher pricing, Olympic set a sales record for the second consecutive quarter, posting net sales of $556 million in Q2, up from $248 million in the same period last year, and up more than $90 million from record-setting first-quarter results.

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    Fed Beige Book finds stronger steel, machinery demand but rising cost pressure

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    Nucor Plate Group doubles fuel surcharge to $40/ton for November

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    SMU Survey: Mill negotiation rates rise on sheet, fall for plate

    Sheet buyers found mills slightly more negotiable on price this week, while plate buyers thought mills were less flexible on spot price tags, according to our latest survey data. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers to see whether mills will negotiate on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, 14% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order, up three percentage points from two weeks earlier (Figure 1). This is the highest reading since July 8, when the rate stood at 18%.

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    September service center shipments and inventories report

    US service centers’ flat-rolled steel supply increased marginally in September, gaining ground for only the second time all year. Shipping days of supply rose to 45.9 last month, according to SMU data. That figure marks a 3.7% increase from August. September’s result represents a modest gain after inventories hit a five-year low the previous month. But it’s nearly 16% below September 2025 levels. Sheet inventories have averaged ~45 shipping days of supply over the past six months. Flat-rolled inventories represented 2.18 months of supply in September, up 3.7% from August. However, the figure was 15.5% below September 2025. The month-on-month (m/m) gain in inventories resulted from a boost (+21.2%) in intake that was partially offset by a 5% increase in shipments.