Steel Products Prices North America

Regional Flat Rolled and Plate Imports Through May 2020
Written by Peter Wright
July 13, 2020
Steel Market Update presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at Commerce license data to a detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. This report is designed to plug the gap between the two.
National level import reports do a good job of measuring the overall market pressure caused by imports of individual products. The downside is that there are large regional differences. This report breaks the total year-to-date import tonnage of six flat rolled products into seven regions and shows the growth or contraction for each product and region. There is a summary table for each product group and a bar chart showing volume by region for the first five months of 2020. These are reference documents with no specific comments.
The charts tell the story, but to cite an example, the national tonnage of cold rolled coil was down by 23 percent in May, but the Great Lakes, which has the highest regional volume of imports, was up by 33 percent. These charts have been developed as a guide for buyers and sellers to give them a broader understanding of what’s going on in their own back yard. This report will be produced every other month and alternate with the imports by district and source report. This month, we are reporting regional imports through May.
Regions are compiled from the following districts:
Atlantic North: Baltimore, Boston, New York, Ogdensburg, Philadelphia, Portland ME, St. Albans and Washington, DC.
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 Steel Products Prices North America

Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.

SMU Price Ranges: HR crawls back to $800/ton
SMU’s HR price stands at $800/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The modest gain came as the low end of our range firmed, and despite the high end of our range declining slightly.

SMU successfully completes IOSCO review
SMU has successfully completed an external review of all our prices. The review has concluded that they algin with principles set by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Domestic plate prices could heat up despite so-so demand, market sources say
Some sources also speculated that plate could see further price increases thanks to modest but steady demand, lower imports, mill maintenance outages, and end markets less immediately affected by tariff-related disruptions.

SMU Price Ranges: HR holds, galv slips amid competing market narratives
SMU’s sheet and plate prices see-sawed this week as hot-rolled (HR) coil prices held their ground while prices for galvanized product slipped.