Newsletter 30- August 2008

"Keeping you Informed"

Prices

(1st Jan 06 = 100 units)

                            From 1st August (1st Jan) Remarks:

                                           2008     (2008)

Merchant Bar                     215      (124)    Prices expected to

(Rounds, Flats, Angles etc)                       remain stable through

                                                                   August but start to

                                                                   increase again in

                                                                   September.                                                                

Heavy sections                  197     (157)   An increase of

(Beams, Columns etc)                               £90/t from 1st

                                                                  August has been

                                                                  followed by a further

                                                                  £60/t from 1st October.                                                                                             

Hollow Sections                 205     (117)   Prices expected to

(Box, Tubes etc)                                       remain stable but may

                                                                  start to increase again

                                                                  in September.

Prices

Summer holidays have temporarily slowed price increases and we expect price stability through August and early September. There may be a few "special" offers about but don't be fooled as we expect prices to continue their upward trend throughout the rest of 2008.

Supply

Mills are busy, some however are seeing raw material shortages limit production. Price rises will be further fuelled by these shortages. We urge all customers to get in touch with us so we can, wherever possible, allocate steel to your account minimising future price increases.

Demand
July was better than June but still sluggish. The market generally is still slow and there are a lot of dark clouds on the horizon. However the banks have managed to refinance themselves so we are hopeful that stability and predictability will reappear.

Credit

As the price of steel continues to surge ahead, approved credit limits need to be increased. If you have a large order to place please give us plenty of notice.

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 -