Steel Products Prices North America
Comparison Price Indices: Another Mixed Week as the Market Waits
Written by John Packard
April 29, 2018
Yet another mixed week as the flat rolled and plate steel markets wait for the government to decide what to do next… It’s tough to be a steel buyer when the laws of supply and demand are no longer in sync with the actual market.
Hot rolled prices were mixed although the spread between Steel Market Update, SteelBenchmarker and Platts have been tightening. One reason for the tightening is the strength of the energy markets and the limited amount of foreign imports. For HRC there seems to be a semblance of supply being squeezed which tightens prices.
The three indexes split on cold rolled. Platts and SMU saw CRC as higher while SteelBenchmarker was $50 per ton below Platts…
SteelBenchmarker does not provide hot dipped galvanized numbers, so Platts and SMU were quite close and both saw HDG as being stable last week.
Galvalume is for SMU only and we saw AZ up $10 per ton.
Plate is on allocation and certain months are not yet open. Transactions and offers may be getting picked up differently resulting in our number being higher than Platts and SteelBenchmarker.
SMU Note: Galvanized prices include $86 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.
Plate price FOB points are different for each of the indexes:
SMU: FOB Delivered to the Customer (includes freight)
Platts: FOB Midwest Mill (includes freight)
SteelBenchmarker: Domestic Mill, East of the Mississippi (does not include freight)
Note that SteelBenchmarker produces numbers twice per month. On the weeks they produce numbers we will include them in the average. The weeks where they do not produce numbers (NA = not available) we will not include their outdated numbers in the CPI average.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
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).
NLMK USA up $50/ton on HR and CR, up $100/ton on coated
NLMK USA plans to increase prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil by at least $50 per short ton (st). The move is effective immediately for all spot orders, the steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Friday.
SMU Price Ranges: Sheet floor holds as market debates upside
Our average HR coil price increased $5/short ton from last week, marking a second consecutive week of modest gains. Market participants generally attributed the increase to...
Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.