Market Data
November 9, 2023
Written by Laura Miller
Lead times for most steel sheet products were pushed out even further this week as domestic prices continued to rise. Plate lead times, meanwhile, contracted on falling prices and waning demand.
Sheet lead times, on average, are now the longest they’ve been in two years.
Every month, SMU polls scrap market participants on a variety of topics—including prices, business conditions, and what they think the future holds. We received the data and comments below last week, before the October market had entirely settled. And as it turns out, survey respondents mostly got it right. Broadly speaking, all survey respondents said demand was stable (56%) or improving (44%). None reported a decline in demand. We haven't seen this many people reporting improving demand since February.
SMU’s October 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 scrap survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results or if your company would like to have your voice heard in our future surveys
The latest tally of active drilling rigs rebounded in the US and moved higher in Canada this week, according to oil and gas rig count data published by Baker Hughes. The US rig count rose by five to 603 rigs this week, reaching a 17-month high. Compared to this time last year, there are 56 more rigs in operation today.
Steel imports into the US crept higher in August and continued climbing in September, according to the Department of Commerce's latest import license data. August imports rose 3.4% from July to a 15-month high. September license data collected through Oct. 5 shows another 6.2% month-on-month increase. Imports continue to recover from some of the lowest levels since 2020, seen late last year through February this year.
SMU’s Current and Future Scrap Sentiment Indices were stable and trending up in October, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey. SMU’s Current Scrap Sentiment Index was unchanged at +88 this month after declining five points in September. The sideways result is still tied for the second-highest level year-to-date.