Steel Products Prices North America
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/media/k2/items/src/e48cbaeb7c2e2abf9cbbbca8c5068513.jpg)
SMU Market Trends: Will Price Increases Stick?
Written by Tim Triplett
November 9, 2019
Will the market accept the recent price increases—a total of $80 on flat rolled and $40 on plate? Obviously much depends on steel demand. Judging by the responses from steel buyers polled this past week by Steel Market Update, demand remains a question mark.
More than half of those responding to SMU’s market trends questionnaire on Monday and Tuesday said demand from their customers is flat or unchanged. Another 37 percent reported declining demand for their products. Less than 10 percent said they have seen improvement in demand.
Much of the current decline is seasonal in nature, which makes it difficult to gauge the true demand for steel moving forward into next year. “Demand is lower now as customers worry about a future slowdown and still have high inventories bought last year at higher prices in anticipation of a more robust and tighter steel market,” commented one respondent. Others reported a bump in sales activity this week, “but only because buyers are trying to beat the price increase.”
Are buyers paying the price increase on flat rolled steel yet? Polled about 10 days after the first increase was announced, only a tiny percentage of the respondents said they were paying the full $40 per ton and only about 19 percent said they were paying even part of the increase on new orders. More than half (52 percent) said they have not paid any of the increase yet, but they expect to soon. That leaves a pretty substantial group, 26 percent, who don’t believe the increase will gain any traction in the market and don’t expect to pay any of it in the weeks to come.
Note that buyers responded to SMU’s questionnaire prior to the mills’ second $40 price increase announced on Thursday. The second round of increases was no surprise as 80 percent of those polled said they were expecting another price hike within the next few weeks.
As one manufacturer commented, “a failed increase can only be met with another announcement as a way to attempt to achieve some traction.”
“They may try again, but it will get kicked back to them. People already have orders placed now for first-quarter 2020,’ said one skeptical service center exec.
“They will try to stop the bleeding. However, demand is the key,” said one OEM.
Observed another manufacturer: “The mills have no discipline. They appear content to make money in one quarter and then tank the numbers in the next for the sake of not losing market share. For them, the name of the game is always TONS.”
Other findings from SMU’s poll of the market this week show mixed signals. Mill lead times have lengthened a bit, which suggests the mills’ order activity is picking up. Yet, the majority of buyers still report mills open to price negotiations on new spot orders, even as they attempt to collect higher prices.
Will the latest increases prove to have some staying power or is the market poised for its third dead cat bounce of 2019? Stay tuned.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/tim-triplett.jpeg)
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/CRU-Logo-2023-07-21-at-4.35.41-PM.png)
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Nucor.png)
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Nucor.png)
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Cliffs_logo2.2.png)
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/CRU-Logo-2023-07-21-at-4.35.41-PM.png)
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]