Newsletter 39 - April 2009

"Keeping you Informed"

Prices

(1st Jan 06 = 100 units)

                        From 1st Apr (1st Jan) Last 12 months

                                     2009  (2009)    High           Low

Merchant Bar                 120  (134)      215 (07/08) 120 (04/09)

(Rounds, Flats, Angles etc)                      

Heavy sections              144  (172)     212 (08/08) 144 (04/09)

(Beams, Columns etc)                              

Hollow Sections             124  (154)     205 (08/08) 205 (04/09)  

(Box, Tubes etc)                                     

Prices

Prices continue to fall and you can see from the chart above all prices are at a 12 month low. Merchant bar and heavy section prices have been hit badly during March with only hollow sections regaining any ground in the short term but merchant bar prices might rally slightly during April. Spot prices however are very confused as some traders try to liquidate their toxic stocks.

Supply

Not straight forward, we could expect the mills to give a better service due to the lack of demand, but this is not always the case as they fail to get sufficient orders to mount rollings.

Demand
There is a demand for steel.

Credit

Still very tight and we are working overtime to maintain insurance cover on our customers. The insurance companies are very nervous of all risks because of the current economic recession. Please do not be offended if we ask for up to date management figures as this is what we are being asked to provide by our insurers. If you have any problems please contact Melinda Bruce who is here to help.

Thank you for reading this and if you have any comments about Tomrods Ltd or our website please email the undersigned at johnt@tomrods.co.uk

John Thompson
Managing Director -