Prices
SMU Imports Report: Coiled Plate
Written by Peter Wright
June 18, 2019
SMU now offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at Commerce Department license data to the very detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now is designed to plug the gap between these two. Our intention is to report regional imports for six flat rolled products every other month. This month (June), we are reporting through April.
National level import reports do a good job of measuring the overall market pressure caused by the imports of individual products. The downside is that there are huge regional differences. We believe that buyers and sellers should have an understanding of the regional differences. For example, year to date through April, total coiled plate imports were down by 12.7 percent, but the Great Lakes region was down by 27.2 percent and the Gulf was up by 77.8 percent.
Figure 1 shows the year-to-date tonnage into each region and the huge variation between them. Figure 1a presents the same data as a pie chart.
Figure 2 shows the year-to-date change for each of seven regions and the change at the national level. Volume declined this year through April in all regions except the Gulf.
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the history of coiled plate imports by region since March 2013 on a three-month moving average basis. Note, the Y axis scales are not the same.
Regions are compiled from the following districts (we will report on tonnage by district and source nation next month):
Atlantic North—Baltimore, Boston, New York, Ogdensburg, Philadelphia, Portland ME, St. Albans and Washington, D.C.
Atlantic South—Charleston, Charlotte, Miami, Norfolk and Savannah.
Great Lakes—Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Duluth, Great Falls, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Pembina.
Gulf—Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, San Juan, St. Louis and Tampa.
Pacific North—Anchorage, Columbia Snake, San Francisco and Seattle.
Pacific South—Los Angeles and San Diego.
Rio Grande Valley—Laredo and El Paso.
Peter Wright
Read more from Peter WrightLatest in Prices
SMU Survey: Mills less negotiable on spot prices
Most steel buyers responding to our market survey this week reported that domestic mills are considerably less willing to talk price on sheet and plate products than they were in recent weeks.
Price gap between US HRC, most imports narrows slightly
In dollar-per-ton terms, US product is on average $141/st less than landed import prices (inclusive of the 50% tariff). That’s down from $148/st last week.
SMU price ranges: Sheet ticks higher, plate stable
Sheet steel indices increased across the board this week, while plate prices held steady. All five of SMU’s price indices are higher than they were two weeks ago, and all but one are above levels recorded four weeks ago.
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).