Steel Products
SMU Comparison Price Indices: A Little of This, A Little of That
Written by John Packard
August 26, 2013
We got a taste of everything this past week from the various steel indexes we monitor on a regular basis. Platts, which recently has been on the leading edge of higher flat rolled steel prices, scaled their numbers back on both hot rolled and cold rolled this week. CRU budged ever so slightly higher on hot rolled (+$2), cold rolled (+$8) and galvanized (+$4). Steel Orbis, which is normally the lowest priced index on our totem pole, moved their hot rolled number up $15 and galvanized up $10 – on cold rolled and Galvalume they remained where they were. SteelBenchmarker was not in the game last week as they only produce their numbers twice per month.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products
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.
CRU: Excessive global supply could hit rebar mill investments in US
Following the onset of the war in Ukraine in March 2022, concerns about import availability and expectations of rising demand from President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill pushed US rebar prices to record highs. In response, a flurry of new mills and capacity expansions were announced to meet the rise in demand from growth in the construction […]