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    December 17, 2015

    Hot Rolled Futures- Price Hikes: Will they Shift the Momentum on Pricing?

    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.

    Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and this commentary will be our first for SMU wherein futures pricing has actually increased relative to our last comment. Though we must note that of course this comes with the important caveat that the spot month of December has continued to move lower. The December month will stand out below, but it mostly a result of how the futures market trades, i.e., the spot month price reflects the actual index average and no longer just market expectations. So with that said, here is how it looks compared to two weeks ago:

    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

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    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.

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