Prices
Comparison Price Indices: Change a Coming...
Written by John Packard
May 3, 2015
All of the domestic steel mills located east of the Rockies (except U.S. Steel) made flat rolled price increase announcements this past week. The first steel index to note an upward move in pricing was Platts where by the end of this past week had taken their hot rolled index up $5 per ton from $445 to $450 per ton. Steel Market Update (SMU) kept our hot rolled average the same as the previous week as we wait to gather enough data from buyers regarding how the mills are presenting new offers and if the sales people are holding the line. CRU was down $4 on Wednesday and SteelBenchmarker reported prices down $5 from their last report of a couple of weeks earlier.
Cold rolled prices ranged from a low of $565 (SMU) per ton to a high of $580 per ton (Platts). CRU was down $1 to $567 per ton and SteelBenchmarker dropped $17 per ton to $569.
Galvanized and Galvalume price averages remained the same while plate prices saw mixed results. CRU had plate up $2 per ton while SteelBenchmarker saw things down $15 per ton (remember, SteelBenchmarker did not report the previous week) and Platts held plate price steady at $595 per ton.
FOB Points for each index:
SMU: Domestic Mill, East of the Rockies.
CRU: Midwest Mill, East of the Rockies.
SteelBenchmarker: Domestic Mill, East of the Mississippi.
Platts: Northern Indiana Domestic Mill.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Prices
SMU Survey: Mills less negotiable on spot prices
Most steel buyers responding to our market survey this week reported that domestic mills are considerably less willing to talk price on sheet and plate products than they were in recent weeks.
Price gap between US HRC, most imports narrows slightly
In dollar-per-ton terms, US product is on average $141/st less than landed import prices (inclusive of the 50% tariff). That’s down from $148/st last week.
SMU price ranges: Sheet ticks higher, plate stable
Sheet steel indices increased across the board this week, while plate prices held steady. All five of SMU’s price indices are higher than they were two weeks ago, and all but one are above levels recorded four weeks ago.
Nucor lifts HR spot price by $10/ton
Nucor has raised its weekly spot list price on hot-rolled coil by $10 per short ton (st) after keeping it unchanged since Aug. 25.
Atlas Tube up $50/ton following NLMK USA sheet price hike
Atlas Tube, in a leading move, said it aims to increase prices for mechanical tubing, hollow structural sections (HSS), and piling products by at least $50 per short ton (st).