Steel Products

SMU Comparison Price Indices (CPI): HRC at $650(ish)
Written by John Packard
August 19, 2013
Platts continues to lead the other steel indexes on both benchmark hot rolled as well as cold rolled pricing. Platts has hot rolled coil priices at $665 per ton this past week, while the rest of the indexes SMU reviews on a continuous basis have the product ranging from $645 to $653 per ton. A similar spread exists between Platts and the other indexes on cold rolled.
With the exception of SteelBenchmarker, which only produces their indices twice per month, the movement in pricing was relatively modest this past week as we are beginning to sense a period of stability in pricing around the $650 per ton level on hot rolled coil (HRC).
It is important to remember there are differences in both the collection techniques of the various indexes as well as different FOB points.
FOB Points for each index:
SMU: Domestic Mill, East of the Rockies.
CRU: Midwest Mill, East of the Rockies.
SteelBenchmarker: Domestic Mill, East of the Mississippi.
SteelOrbis: Midwest Domestic Mill.
Platts: Northern Indiana Domestic Mill.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products

Tariffs, ample domestic supply cause importers to shift or cancel HR import orders
Subdued demand is causing importers to cancel hot-rolled (HR) coil orders and renegotiate the terms of shipments currently enroute to the US, importers say. An executive for a large overseas mill said customers might find it difficult to justify making imports buys after US President Donald Trump doubled the 25% Section 232 tariff on imported steel […]

Drilling activity slows in the US, grows in Canada
Oil and gas drilling activity was mixed this week, according to Baker Hughes. US totals slipped for a sixth straight week, while Canada saw a slight bump in activity.

Commerce finds no Korean OCTG shipments below market value
US Department of Commerce (Commerce) review found no South Korean oil country tubular goods (OCTG) exporters or producers sold products below market value

Drilling activity slows further in US and Canada
Oil and gas drilling activity declined again this week in both the US and Canada, according to Baker Hughes.

SMU Community Chat: Zekelman calls for more support for steel consumers
“Unless the administration actually gets serious about levelling the playing field… for consumers of steel, then everything they've done on the steel side is useless."