Steel Market Update (SMU) recently informed our members (those who subscriber or are trial subscribers to our newsletter and website) the pricing trend, or market momentum, has reversed itself over the past few weeks.

In our most recent pricing analysis of flat rolled steel products we are seeing a decline in pricing in hot rolled coil and galvanized coil. The SMU hot rolled index declined by $20 per ton this week from $565 per short ton to $555 per short ton. We are now forecasting hot rolled prices to trend lower over the next 30-60 days.

Galvanized coil prices have also declined over the past few weeks. The SMU galvanized index decline by $10 per ton at both the low and high end of our range. The new index average is $734 per short ton for our benchmark .060" X 48" G90, CS/B, large coils.

Cold rolled continues to be the strongest product in the North American market right now. We have a "Neutral" trend line on cold rolled meaning prices are in transition and could go either way over the next 30-60 days. However, if hot rolled is in decline cold rolled will tend to follow HR lead, eventually.

Galvalume prices also trended slightly lower this past week by $10 per short ton. Our new index is $968 per short ton on .0142" X 40.875" AZ50, Grade 80, large coils. To the best of our knowledge SMU is the only newsletter/analyst which has a weekly index on Galvalume in North America.

If you have an interest in flat rolled steel prices in North America you may want to consider registering for a free trial to our newsletter and access to our website. You can do so online at www.steelmarketupdate.com