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Mill customers feel the pain of high steel prices: steel mill customers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with steel prices that seem far too high.

Publication: Metal Center News
Publication Date: 01-OCT-08 		Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: Mill customers feel the pain of high steel prices: steel mill customers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with steel prices that seem far too high.(JACOBSON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY)

Article Excerpt
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TODAY'S HIGH STEEL PRICES have created a wave of dissatisfaction among steel buyers. Throughout 2008, mill customers--including service centers and end-users--cited high prices and tight availability as the areas where mills most need to improve.

According to the latest data from Jacobson & Associates, which conducts a continuous census survey of steel mill customers (see Methodology on page 22), the number dissatisfied with prices spiked to 42 percent in the June-August 2008 period (see Chart 2). This is the highest level of price dissatisfaction since the Jacobson Survey began in 1994.

CHART 1 The Leaders TOP-RATED MILLS BY PRODUCT CATEGORY SHEET--North Star Bluescope PLATE--SSAB North American BAR/STRUCTURALS--Nucor Marion TUBE--Hanna Steel BEAMS--Nucor Berkeley STAINLESS SHEET--AK Specialty Steel

Recent tight market conditions have shifted the focus of customers more towards price and availability and lessened their focus on quality and other considerations.

Mills rated the highest by their customers in the past year include: North Star Bluescope, SSAB North American, Nucor Marion, Hanna Steel, Nucor Berkeley and AK Specialty Steel (see Chart 1).

High levels of dissatisfaction may pose risks to the future health of...



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