• Skip to main content

    Prices

    SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Early Cracks

    Written by Brett Linton


    Steel prices are starting to slip. We have found a number of mills making price adjustments to their flat rolled steel offers over the past 24-48 hours. The steel mills are attempting to keep the reductions as minimal and quiet as possible. We are posting reductions in our averages, most occurring due to reductions on the lower end of our range (upper end is still getting some action). The net result has our price averages dropping by $5 to $15 per ton compared to where we were one week ago.

    Here is how we are seeing prices this week:

    Brett Linton

    Read more from Brett Linton

    Latest in Prices

    Mills seek more scrap after lower prices fail to attract tons

    Several mills that bought October scrap early last week are still asking for additional supplies, scrap market participants said. The reason: the mills' initial prices did not attract enough of the raw material, they said. A trading source based in northern Ohio said three mills have contacted his firm seeking offers for additional tons. He said the mills asked for offers even if prices were higher than their original buys last week.

    Nucor increases spot HR to $1,240/ton

    Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 12, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,240 per short ton (st) this week, a $10/st increase from a week earlier. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,305/st, up $15/st from the prior week. Nucor is still offering lead times of three to five weeks, according to the letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 6, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,270/st, up $10/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 13.