Steel Mills

CSI Closes June Flat Rolled Order Book

Written by Michael Cowden

March 24, 2021

California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its June flat rolled order book just a week after opening it.

“We want to thank you for your continued support during these difficult times. … We will contact you when we open the flat rolled order book for July,” CSI said in a letter to customers dated Wednesday, March 24.

CSIThe closure of the June order book means CSI’s lead times are into the third quarter before the first quarter has ended.

CSI announced it had opened its June order book on Wednesday, March 17. The company also quietly rolled out a price hike of $90 per ton ($4.50/cwt) at the same time, market participants have said.

But higher tags didn’t deter buyers in need of tons, one West Coast service center source said.

And U.S. steel prices in the meantime continue to reach new all-time highs.

SMU’s average U.S. hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,315 per ton, up 8.7% from $1,210 per ton a month ago and up 33.5% from $985 per ton at the beginning of the year.

CSI, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles in Fontana, Calif., has the capability to make hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized products as well as welded pipe.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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