Steel is a major cost element for most manufacturing and construction enterprises around the world. Over the past eight years, steel prices have been highly volatile. Consequently, input costs have fluctuated violently for many key industrial sectors. To provide a greater understanding of the impact of these influences, MEPS has created a new series of monthly Steel Purchasing Price Indices for seven industrial sectors which have steel as an important cost item. These have been developed to provide an easy measure of movements in steel input costs for these industries from changes in negotiated prices.   

• Construction Industry (Composite)

• Shipbuilding Industry

• Yellow Goods (Farm and construction machinery)

• White Goods (Household appliances)

• Shipping Containers

• General Engineering

• Auto Body Parts

Regional indices are available on subscription:

• World

• European Union

• North America

• Asia

Purchasing price indices are updated monthly and a subscription is for one year. Each table contains 24 months of historic data for the selected sector and region.

PRICE INDEX WITH FORECASTS

Forecasts are updated monthly and extend for a period of one year into the future with historical data going back to January 2007. A chart showing both historical and future trends will be displayed, together with a brief commentary on the likely tendencies. The data is dispatched by email in excel format usually around the last day of the month. The annual subscription rate is GBP 425.00 per sector/region. Please contact MEPS if you wish to subscribe. 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

MEPS commenced its field research programme by entering into discussions with steel buyers in the main industrial sectors across the world. Many of these are current subscribers to our services. From the information gathered plus published data and MEPS analysis, we were able to make an assessment of the average steel usage, for each industrial sector. Regional differences were accommodated. Using the above criteria, in conjunction with MEPS researched, selling values for the individual rolled steel products, a notional January 2007 average steel price was calculated for each industrial sector. These were referenced index 100. All subsequent index values have been taken from this point - based on the monthly changes in negotiated steel prices.  Forecasts are updated monthly and extend for a period of one year into the future with historical data going back to January 2007. A chart showing both historical and future trends will be displayed, together with a brief commentary on the likely tendencies. The data is dispatched by email in excel format usually around the last day of the month. The annual subscription rate is GBP 425.00 per sector/region. Please contact MEPS if you wish to subscribe. 

Steel Product Prices included in this analysis:
Carbon steels; Hot Rolled Coil, Hot Rolled Plate, Cold Rolled Coil, Hot Dipped Galvanised Coil, Electro-Zinc Coil, Wire Rod, Structural Sections and Beams, Rebar and Merchant Bar.
Stainless Steels; Hot Rolled Coil 304 & 316, Hot Rolled Plate 304 & 316, Cold Rolled Coil 304, 316 & 430, Drawn Bar 304 & 316 and Peeled Bar 304 & 316.

WHO SHOULD SUBSCRIBE TO ISSPPI's?

• Steel buyers in the relevant industrial sectors to benchmark their steel costs against an industry average.

• Business and financial analysts to evaluate changes in input costs for major industrial sectors.

• Banking executives to assess industry raw material cost movements.

• Equipment manufacturers to highlight input cost gains to justify selling price hikes.

• Government agencies to assess costs of public investment projects.

WHO SHOULD SUBSCRIBE TO FORECASTS (Please contact MEPS for further details)

• Steel purchasing executives to produce budgets.

• Steel buyers to improve purchasing decisions.

• Industry analysts to make industry profit projections.

• Government agencies to forecast project costs.

• Financial institutions to understand clients' cost trends.
   

IF YOUR INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IS NOT INCLUDED IN OUR ANALYSIS PLEASE CONTACT US.  MEPS CAN SUPPLY A CONFIDENTIAL TAILORED STEEL COST FORECASTING SERVICE TO MEET YOUR PRODUCT MIX.