-Iron ore prices down.  Scrap prices down.  Chinese steel prices down.  Rebar prices down.  Crude oil prices down. Euro / dollar exchange rate down.  Euro Zone and China slowing; soft picture in the USA. Domestic lead times shortening and more capacity coming online this month.   Uncertainty abound in western governments. 

-We are left wondering why steel mills issue “price announcements” rather than just raise their prices if the market will support it.  We deal with many steel mills that do not attempt to price signal – they base pricing on the quality of their order book. 

-What market forces have coalesced to reverse the price slide of recent weeks? Certainly not even a curious maintenance furnace idling will bump pricing up.  

-The Chinese continue to produce steel at record levels. Capacity will have to be reduced in the USA – one way or another before downside pressure subsides.