CRU: U.S. Plate Volumes Up, Prices Down

By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson

The U.S. plate market has, up to this point, seen prices fall on a slow downward trend. Plate has not been as exposed to the automotive-led manufacturing shutdown, which had allowed prices to only slowly fall by $61 /s.ton since the late January cycle peak. Current prices, though, reflect an increase in both the number of transactions as well as overall volume booked. Higher volume has led to lower prices as this week’s assessment fell by $25 /s.ton w/w to $579 /s.ton, the lowest level assessed since December 2016.