Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Trying to Make Sense of This Market

Written by Brett Linton

May 8, 2019

Steel buyers are still trying to get a sense for what is driving this market and market pricing. We are seeing weakness in prices even though foreign steel imports are down, import price offers are higher than domestic steel prices and demand is pretty good for most of the market segments using sheet or plate steel.

Here is how we see prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $600-$680 per ton ($30.00/cwt-$34.00/cwt) with an average of $640 per ton ($32.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range remained the same compared to one week ago, therefore our overall average is unchanged compared to last week. Our price momentum on hot rolled steel is Lower, meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 3-6 weeks

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $760-$820 per ton ($38.00/cwt-$41.00/cwt) with an average of $790 per ton ($39.50/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range remained the same compared to last week, while the upper end rose $20 per ton. Our overall average is up $10 per ton compared to one week ago. Our price momentum on cold rolled steel is now at Lower, meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 4-8 weeks

Galvanized Coil: SMU base price range is $38.00/cwt-$41.00/cwt ($760-$820 per ton) with an average of $39.50/cwt ($790 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range fell $10 per ton compared to one week ago, as did the upper end of our range. Our overall average is down $10 per ton compared to last week. Our price momentum on galvanized steel is now at Lower, meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU price range is $838-$898 per net ton with an average of $868 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 5-8 weeks

Galvalume Coil: SMU base price range is $39.00/cwt-$41.00/cwt ($780-$820 per ton) with an average of $40.00/cwt ($800 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range remained unchanged compared to last week, while the upper end fell $10 per ton. Our overall average is down $5 per ton compared to one week ago. Our price momentum on Galvalume is now at Lower, meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU price range is $1,071-$1,111 per net ton with an average of $1,091 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 4-8 weeks

Plate: SMU price range is $910-$970 per ton ($45.50/cwt-$48.50/cwt) with an average of $940 per ton ($47.00/cwt) FOB delivered to the customer’s facility. The lower end of our range declined $10 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end rose $10 per ton. Our overall average remained unchanged compared to last week. Our price momentum on plate steel is Lower, meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 days.

Plate Lead Times: 3-6 weeks

SMU Note: Below is a graphic showing our hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate price history. This data is available here on our website with our interactive pricing tool. Note that plate prices are not yet available on our website, but we are in the process of adding that dataset. If you need help navigating the website or need to know your login information, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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