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    SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Time to Wait and See

    Written by Brett Linton


    We are moving deeper into a holiday week and, with the exception of US Steel, all is quiet on the western (and eastern for that matter) front. The US Steel announcement of a $25 per ton base price increase on spot flat rolled prices has created some interest within the steel community. However, we are hearing from the larger buyers that everything is status quo and they are able to purchase spot tonnage at levels similar to those referenced last week. We did make two minor adjustments on coated steels raising the lower end of the range by $10 per ton ($.50/cwt). We will do a deeper analysis this time next week when buyers return from the 4th of July holiday and we conduct our early July flat rolled survey.

    Here is how we see prices this week:

    Brett Linton

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    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.