Final Thoughts

SMU has released its latest full survey results, and I want to highlight some big changes that we’ve seen in the data compared to just two weeks ago. Chief among them is what appears to be a big shift in service center pricing and buying patterns.

We had seen most service centers trying to hold the line on spot prices to their customers following mill price hike attempts in August. Those mill increase announcements didn’t boost prices. But they did at least slow the bleeding.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

Michael Cowden

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