US steel market sentiment regarding finished steel pricing is the strongest recorded since January as participants continued to expect firmer finished steel prices as May approaches, according to the monthly survey of the market by S&P Global Platts.
The index for finished steel price development rose to 73, indicating continued expectations for increases in the month to come.
Each respondent group in the survey of US producers, distributors, traders and end-customers was bullish about May finished steel prices. Traders were the least bullish, posting an average response to the finished steel price development index of 60, while mill (75), end user (79), and distributor (83.5) respondents all held firmer sentiment.
"What a crazy world we are living in. I expect prices to remain elevated until at least Q4," said one distributor.
Most participant groups still expected steel production to see a slight increase with the average index coming in at 59.5, up slightly from April. However, most notably, mill respondents were the only bearish group with an index of 44.
May average raw material price sentiment was 64, up from April's 51. Again, the mill respondent group was the most bearish with 56.5. End users, traders and distributors responded with 58.5, 67.5 and 71, respectively.
"Raw material flow into the scrapyard today is excellent, traditionally "peak of the year" levels... It feels like we have balance in this market," said a raw material trader.
The expected finished steel inventory level index continued to decline to its lowest level in 2021, meaning respondents still expect inventories to move lower on average. The April finished steel inventory level declined to 43.5, down from 44 in April.
