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    June 10, 2014

    SMU Price Ranges & Indices: A Tale of Two Cities?

    Written by Brett Linton

    Trying to keep up with steel prices and production is proving to be quite an exercise. As we were preparing to publish we were chasing a story about AK Steel having issues with their Ashland blast furnace. At the same time we are gathering data from large buyers that is taking the lower end of the hot rolled range down to $640 per ton for buys of around 5,000 tons. We have not yet seen those numbers in the Midwest probably because of the issues with US Steel, ArcelorMittal and (maybe once again) AK Steel. On the other end of the spectrum we are seeing coated products as being pretty resilient over the past few weeks with most buyers paying $39.50/cwt type base price levels. As with hot rolled there are regional differences and the influence of foreign is starting to sneak into negotiations between buyers and their steel mill salespeople.

    Here is how we are seeing prices this week:

    Brett Linton

    Brett Linton is a digital operations analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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