I know many distributors are reducing their "safety stock" in an effort to reduce inventory and their purchases.  And many distributors and suppliers tell me that they are seeing orders from customers -- it's just that they are much smaller orders.   Suppliers (in particular, importers) are trying to move inventory so they can bring in some lower cost invetory.  Makes sense.  But, then just yesterday I was speaking with a domestic manufacturer who told me that he thinks scrap prices might have bottomed and maybe steel costs will start to turn again (although he did say he did not expect anything like the craziness we saw last year).

So, how much has the price of different types of fasteners changed from quarter to quarter -- from year to year?  Certainly, Socket Head Cap Screws, Flatwashers, Grade 5 Hex Heads don't all chage at thesame rate at the same time -- and not the sames as would a nylon washer or a U-Nut.  So, what factors do we take into account when we hear that our costs are going up?  Do we have any kind of Fastener Price Index??  And, what information would you use if you were creating a Fastener Price Index??

Last year the price increases were fast and furious.  This year, end user customers are writing "love letters" to the distributors telling them "we demand a 10% decrease because we just read in some report that steel prices have gone down".  Needless to say, several distributors attempted to cross out the names and re-send those same letters to suppliers.  Wouldn't it be valuable to have some kind of Fastener Price Index to use to help fight price increases and decreases or to at least have a basis upon which to determine what the market is actually doing.

I know several distributors look at raw material prices and metal prices to guage some of this.  But what should go into this kind of index?  I would think that this is something that might be tackled by an industry group like the NFDA or IFI.  Usually, when I read anything in the trade magazines it is a spokesperson for one of the importers who is sharing this kind of information.  Maybe the importers would be the place to start to gather this information.