• Skip to main content

    Prices

    July 23, 2015

    Contango Evaporates as Steel Futures Markets Plunge

    Written by Spencer Johnson

    The following article is written by Spencer Johnson of FC Stone LLC. With six years of experience, Spencer provides his customers strategic and tactical advice on protecting themselves against commodity price volatility in the steel markets. Spencer will rotate weekly futures articles with Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC. Spencer can be reached at spencer.johnson@intlfcstone.com.

    If this commentary came even one day earlier, it would look very different. Here is a quick rundown of the before/after on pricing from just one week ago, now that the mayhem has settled down somewhat ($/ton):

    Spencer Johnson

    A broker at FCStone LLC, Johnson is a veteran in the world of steel futures. He has worked with every type of market participant to formulate risk management and trading strategies for steel derivatives. StoneX has also worked tirelessly to grow liquidity and provide access to new ferrous markets for its clients. Johnson is in addition one of the longest serving members of the London Metal Exchange’s steel committee.

    Read more from Spencer Johnson

    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.