Analysis
August 28, 2026
Steel Summit: Tight steel supply raises pressure on service centers
Written by Laura Miller
Tight steel availability and lean inventories are increasing pressure on service centers, according to speakers on a service center panel on Wednesday, August 26, at the SMU Steel Summit 2026.
Thad Solomon, president and CEO of Steel Technologies, said supply has become more constrained. “Availability has tightened quite a bit,” he remarked. “It has definitely added stress into our team … but it’s also been fun to watch how the team responds, meets the challenges and works very well on both ends with mills and customers to keep everything moving.”
Service centers are holding lower stocks while managing uncertain mill deliveries and customer demand. The situation is particularly difficult for transactional spot business, where customers expect rapid fulfillment.
Jodi Parnell, president and CEO of O’Neal Steel, said service centers must manage competing pressures across the chain. “It’s the role of service centers to solve problems,” she reminded the Summit audience in Atlanta. “Interestingly, right now, [service centers] solve problems for the mills and for the customers.” She noted that “It’s a really stressful time.”
Panelists said supply constraints make execution more important. Avoiding scrap, material damage, shipping errors, and overproduction helps protect scarce inventory.
Ilse Henne, CEO of tk accelis, formerly thyssenkrupp Materials Services, said distributors play a role in absorbing strain across the market. Service centers “have an important role in always trying to distribute the pressure that exists in the supply chain,” she commented. But, she added, these are “exciting times and also lots of opportunities to find new ways to deal with that risk currently.”
The speakers said service centers are responding by monitoring stock more closely, coordinating more actively with mills and customers, and using better supply chain information to identify potential shortages earlier.
Reshoring
The panelists agreed reshoring could support domestic steel demand over time. “I think we do see it coming back,” said Henne. “But it’s of course something that will need its time.” Parnell said the immediate impact has largely been higher utilization of existing capacity. And Solomon said he thinks “this story is continuing to unfold.”
The panel also discussed the need for more predictable tariff policy, stronger supply chain visibility, tighter inventory control, and investment in skilled labor and automation.
