Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Mills Trying to Gain Ground

November 11, 2014

We have been getting mixed messages from steel buyers this week regarding the status of the increase announcements and spot flat rolled steel prices. A number of buyers are reporting the mills as pushing the new numbers while others are reporting prices as remaining the same as they were one week ago. One thing that was surprising to SMU as we spoke to buyers around the country was no one mentioned the drop in scrap as a reason for prices to decline. Most buyers were either out of the market totally due to end of the year inventory adjustments or, prices remained unchanged on the spot orders placed this week.

We found resistance to the price increases the closer the buyers were to the coast and foreign steel. In the East we were hearing prices were essentially unchanged although that was expected to change as the amount of foreign steel coming in slows down. In the South we also heard of the inability of one mill to get their prices up due to competition coming off the ports. In the Midwest we are hearing that the decline in prices is over and that the mills are attempting to collect increases on January lead time orders.

Here is how we see prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $620-$660 per ton ($31.00/cwt- $33.00/cwt) with an average of $640 per ton ($32.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The upper end of our range is unchanged from one week ago while the lower end of our range increased by $10 per ton. Our average is up by $5 per ton. SMU price momentum for hot rolled steel is for prices to trend sideways for a period of time as the industry decides if the new price announcements will indeed be collected.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 2-5 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $730-$770 per ton ($36.50/cwt- $38.50/cwt) with an average of $750 per ton ($37.50/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower ends of our range are unchanged compared to last week. Our average is the same as to one week ago. SMU price momentum on cold rolled steel is for prices to trend sideways for a period of time as the industry decides if the new price announcements will indeed be collected.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-9 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $36.00/cwt-$38.50/cwt ($720-$770 per ton) with an average of $37.25/cwt ($745 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower ends of our range are unchanged compared to last week. Our average is the same as to one week ago. SMU anticipates galvanized prices will trend sideways for a period of time as the industry decides if the new price announcements will indeed be collected.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $789-$839 per ton with an average of $814 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-9 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $36.50/cwt-$39.00/cwt ($730-$780 per ton) with an average of $37.75/cwt ($755 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower ends of our range are unchanged compared to last week. Our average is the same as to one week ago. Our expectation is for Galvalume prices to trend sideways for a period of time as the industry decides if the new price announcements will indeed be collected.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $1021-$1071 per ton with an average of $1046 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-9 weeks.

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