Steel Products Prices North America

Comparison Price Indices: Mixed Results
Written by John Packard
April 2, 2017
SMU saw the flat rolled steel markets as flat to slightly down while SteelBenchmarker was mixed and Platts had hot rolled and cold rolled prices increasing by $10 per ton. Sounds like a confusing market but, when looking closer at the actual numbers it really isn’t.
Benchmark hot rolled coil (HRC) was reported to average $655 per ton ($32.75/cwt) on our index with Platts taking their number up $10 to $660 per ton. A $5 per ton spread between SMU and Platts is nothing more than differences in collection techniques and where data came from during the past week. SteelBenchmarker, which only produces their index twice per month, was up $5 from their last report and is now at $639 per ton. This index tends to lag the market (rather dramatically when markets are moving quickly) and could be related to their data providers and when the data was collected.
Galvanized at .060” G90 was lower by $10 per ton while Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 remained the same.
Plate prices dropped on the new SMU index as we realized freight was included in some of the numbers we have been collecting. SteelBenchmarker showed plate up $27 from their last pricing to $763 per ton while Platts was stable at $735 per ton for the week.
SMU Note: Galvanized prices include $78 in extras for a .060″ G90 product. Galvalume prices include $291 in extras for a .0142” AZ50 Grade 80 product.
FOB points for each index:
SMU: Domestic 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 Steel Products Prices North America

CRU: Q3 will be the lowest point in current sheet price cycle
CRU Principal Analyst Shankhadeep Mukherjee expects a restocking cycle for steel sheet products in most parts of the world due to either low inventories or seasonally stronger demand.

CRU: US rebar and wire rod prices rise alongside S232 increase
CRU Senior Steel Analyst Alexandra Anderson discusses current market and pricing dynamics for long steel products in the US.

SMU Price Ranges: Sheet and plate steady ahead of Independence Day
Sheet and plate prices were little changed in the shortened week ahead of Independence Day, according to SMU’s latest check of the market.

Nucor maintains plate prices, opens August order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat again with the opening of its August order book.

Nucor CSP remains level at $900/ton
Nucor maintained its weekly list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil this week, following two consecutive increases.