SMU Price Ranges & Indices: We Can't Ignore Special Deals

They may be off the table as of today, but late last week (and some buyers reported some still existing early this week) there were special deals – many tied to large tonnage – as the domestic mills attempted to fill their hot rolled order books. We did have a number of buyers and a couple of mills tell SMU bookings were strong last week and so far this week. We will watch prices carefully, and we may choose to revisit prices later this week to ensure that the numbers we are collecting on flat rolled are indeed up to date.

Plate prices continue to be stable, and we are not seeing any erosion in spot pricing there. In fact, many of the plate buyers are anticipating a January price increase out of the domestic mills.