Steel Mills
CSI Closes September Flat Rolled Order Book
Written by Michael Cowden
July 1, 2021
You’ll have to wait until the fourth quarter if you’re looking for flat rolled from California Steel Industries (CSI).
The West Coast slab converter announced that it had closed its September order book on Thursday, July 1 – just a week after it opened the month and increased prices by $200 per ton ($10 per cwt).
“We will contact you when we open the flat rolled order book for October,” the company said in a letter to customers.
CSI, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles in Fontana, Calif., makes hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized products as well as welded pipe.
The company’s closure of its September order book dovetails with SMU channel checks indicating that demand remains firm despite prices continuing to set new highs week-over-week following a nearly year-long upcycle.
Case in point: SMU’s benchmark hot-rolled coil price is at $1,770 per ton ($88.50 per cwt), up 9.3% from $1,620 per ton a month ago and more than triple $480 per ton a year ago.
Hot-rolled coil lead times – an advance indicator of which way prices are headed – average 10.5 weeks, little changed from 10.36 weeks a month ago but nearly triple the 3.58 weeks recorded this time last year, according to SMU’s interactive pricing tool.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
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