CRU: Raw Material Price Increases Cause Global Sheet Price Hike

By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, March 23

Persistently high steelmaking raw material prices and restricted global production pushed sheet prices higher w/w across the world. The largest of these increases were in Europe and the USA, with prices rising by triple-digit amounts for yet another week. Still, domestic buyers in both markets are growing wary of this sharp price spike and are generally only making purchases when necessary. Nearly all Asian exporters are now focused on sending material to Europe given the quick rise in prices there, leaving Chinese exporters as the only option for importers in other parts of Asia. Between this and logistical issues caused by the recent Covid-19 outbreak in China, prices around Asia were also up w/w.

Ryan McKinley

Ryan joined CRU in 2018 and is now the editor of the Steel Sheet Monitor. He also forecasts North American prices, production, demand, and trade for sheet and plate products in CRU's Steel Sheet and Plate Market Outlooks. Ryan has eight years of experience in steel market analytics, covering markets from steel metallics, steel long products, stainless steel, and now steel sheet and plate markets. Prior to joining CRU, he covered a variety of local North American scrap markets at Argus Media. He holds a BA in Political Science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, and an MA in Energy Politics in Eurasia from European University located in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. Ryan is based in Denver, Colorado.