Steel Products
SMU Comparison Price Indices: Split Develops
Written by John Packard
February 4, 2013
After speaking with Platts on Friday – Mr. Surma of US Steel was correct in his call with analysts, there is one index which has hot rolled coil (Midwest) at $630 this week. A split has developed amongst the indexes as various price points have been gathered over the past week to ten days (depending on the index) which have created reasons for each index to publish their numbers the way they did. In our case we still picked up offers out of two regions into the Midwest which did not allow us to move off the low end of our range ($580) while the upper end of our range was the same as that shown by Platts to their customers ($640). The CRU, which is the benchmark for the industry, came in $4 per ton below our $610 at $606. Steel Orbis did not provide SMU new numbers by the time we published on Sunday afternoon.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products
Domestic mill shipments rise in June: AISI
US steel shipments increased month over month and year over year in June, according to the latest figures from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Active rig counts slipped in US, Canada
Drilling activity slowed in the US and Canada last week, according to the latest oil and gas rig count data released by Baker Hughes.
OCTG producers in Canada take aim at Mexico, US, others
Evraz NA and Welded Tube of Canada have lodged an unfair trade complaint against imports of OCTG, including those from USMCA trading partners Mexico and the US.
Final Thoughts
The difference: The spat with Turkey was a big deal for steel. This time, the 50% reciprocal tariff for Brazil – if it goes into effect as threatened on Aug.1 – hits everything from coffee and to pig iron. It seems almost custom-built to inflict as much pain as possible on Brazil.
CRU: US rebar and wire rod prices rise alongside S232 increase
CRU Senior Steel Analyst Alexandra Anderson discusses current market and pricing dynamics for long steel products in the US.