SMU Data and Models
SMU Market Trends: Optimism Has Staying Power
Written by Tim Triplett
March 4, 2022
Despite war in Ukraine, rising inflation, and uncertainty around steel prices, more than 80% of buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s survey this week still described themselves as optimistic about their prospects for the first half of this year.
Their generally positive outlook – reflected in the comments below – point to healthy steel demand and the widespread belief that the painful price correction is nearing an end.
“Demand is remaining strong and prices are stabilizing.”
“We all got stuck buying everything we could get our hands on, so everyone was over inventoried. Once this lump is swallowed, lead times and true demand will take over.”
“I believe the steel mills will follow through with their commitments to stabilize markets/prices by controlling capacity.”
“Despite inflation, demand is quite good. I just need better access to trucks.”
“Customers are honoring orders, unlike other times when the market has divebombed like this.”
“We are almost at a bottom and hopefully will uptrend in the second quarter.”
“Our production schedule is very full, with committed work into the third quarter.”
“Even with margins squeezed, we’re concluding our most profitable February in company history. While the 2H could get tough, we are riding high right now.”
Certainly not every buyer is quite so bullish. “We’re losing money on every order due to high-cost inventory,” said one service center executive. “There’s still lots of inventory and prices are all over the board. Demand is spotty for many markets and regions,” said another. “There seems to be another black swan lurking around every corner,” observed a third respondent.
By Tim Triplett, Tim@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in SMU Data and Models
SMU scrap market survey results now available
SMU’s ferrous scrap market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “ferrous scrap survey” results. Past flat-rolled survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, […]
SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]
SMU Survey: Buyers’ Sentiment rises but caution remains
After reaching multi-month lows in mid-May, SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices modestly recovered in our latest survey.
SMU Survey: Sheet lead times fall to multi-year low
Mill lead times shrunk this week for all of the sheet products tracked by SMU and held steady on plate, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.
SMU Survey: Mill willingness to negotiate keeps on climbing
Most steel buyers responding to our latest market survey report that domestic mills are willing to talk price to secure new orders. Mill negotiability has continued to rise across all sheet and plate products we track, now at some of the highest levels recorded since late 2024.