Metals buyers opened 2002 with their lowest overall optimism for near-term business and buying plans since PURCHASING Magazine revised its monthly Metals Business Survey in June 1997. Only one in four buyers polled expect to buy more metals this quarter. A whopping 97% report that metals supply is either normal or loose and 94% of metals buyers plan to maintain or reduce their in-house stocks as demand for end products continues to be soft. "If you're not selling anything, you have no buying headaches," says a purchasing agent in Iowa.

Average steel leadtimes for the most recent three months are uniformly shorter when compared to leadtimes for the prior three-month period. Leadtimes in nonferrous and fabricated metals categories are generally shorter or flat although recent leadtime stretching is noted for some precious metals (silver, platinum, palladium) and titanium-based superalloys. While buying is down and metals are readily available, buyers report that delivered metals are meeting quality specifications 96% of the time on average, the low end of the quality range for the past three years.