Prices
March 31, 2022
Ferrous Futures: Volatility Calms and Volume Plummets as Price Moves Hinge on Ukraine
Written by David Feldstein
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active in the ferrous derivatives space since 2012.
The rally in CME futures throughout 2021 was like nothing the futures and physical market had ever experienced. Over a twelve-month period from August ’20 to August ’21, the rolling 2nd month Midwest HRC future rallied from $500/st to over $1,900/st, a gain of almost 300% and more than doubling the previous high of $935 from June ’20. An average weekly gain of roughly 5.5%. Nothing so intense would ever be seen again. … Well, until last month. From the close on Friday February 18 through Tuesday March 15, the May HRC future gained $671!! An average of roughly 20.5% per week.
