The Sun Will Shine Again

By Jim Stavis

 Last month we attended the
Metal Service Center Institute's
(MSCI) annual meeting that
was held in San Francisco. It was
a glorious meeting, weatherwise,
and about as upbeat a
meeting as I can recall.
     The speakers who
participated in this event all
remarked about what a turn of
events had occurred in the past
business year. Most of the
attendees were almost giddy
with the increased business and
prices that had been bestowed
upon them. Their inventories
had increased in value
seemingly overnight by 30, 40
or 50% (with virtually no end
in sight).
     However another graphic
showed that inventory levels
keep falling to what are now at
historic lows, which is helping
to justify the price points.
     For some, like myself, this
all seemed rather unfair. When
we hear about what the price
increases are doing in the
marketplace to end users,
manufacturers, contractors,
etc., it is hard to reconcile with
the celebratory antics of the
producers and distributors of
steel products.
     Andy Peters, the Sales V.P. of
Paragon Steel had questioned a
mill representative about the
impact of their pricing in the
marketplace.
     The mill’s response was more
a rationalization of market
forces that were occurring as
with other raw materials
around the globe. In other
words, the blame for the
higher prices could not be
levied on the producing mills
(exclusively).