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    Analysis

    Final Thoughts

    Written by Ethan Bernard


    Decarbonization might’ve fallen out of the headlines a bit, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone away. Tariffs, geopolitical instability, outright war… There has been a lot to write about in the last year. Of course, though, many companies are still targeting net-zero emissions, and no single roadmap yet exists for how we get there.

    For example, does decarbonization occur at the national or international level, or is it enacted by private industry? Do non-profits play a role? Well, these are questions that are all being worked out in real time. And there doesn’t necessarily have to be a binary answer.

    Ethan Bernard

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    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.