Steel Products Prices North America

CRU: Plate Price Rises Across All Markets

March 28, 2019

By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores

In the U.S., plate prices rose $16 /s.ton after falling by $34 /s.ton last week. Prices here started to fall back from their high levels in February, though mills announced a $40 s/.ton price increase, which at best may only stabilize prices at this lower level unless seasonal demand becomes much more apparent.

In contrast to sheet, European plate prices have increased further this week, to €603/t in Germany and €560/t in Italy. Plate is more exposed to re-rolling on the supply side than sheet, and consequently more directly to the soaring cost of slab. This has risen by more than $80/t in 2019, eroding what had previously been strong re-rolling margins. Plate is also not exposed on the demand side to the automotive business, which is the headline driver of weakness for European steel.

Chinese domestic prices crept upward by 10 RMB/t w/w. Prices were still supported by seasonal demand recovery as the inventory dropped more than last week. However, price increases were limited since output increased after the NPC meeting. Having said that, the VAT reduction will be conducted from next Thursday. Therefore, end-users have tried to negotiate with mills especially for immediate orders, which caused some price volatility. Looking forward, supply is likely to increase, but not that much. As the winter heating season comes to the end, production is likely to be higher. Meanwhile, some new capacity will come online in the near-term which may further weigh on prices. However, some downward pressure may be eased by safety inspection. Therefore, we expect prices to maintain stable.

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SMU Steel Summit 2019

Josh Spoores will offer his full forecast for steel prices as a featured speaker at Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. For more information and to register, click here.