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    SMU Price Ranges: Sheet Starts '23 Moving Up

    Written by Michael Cowden


    Sheet prices entered 2023 moving upward on expectations of higher prime scrap prices, and on a modest uptick in activity as some buyers looked to get ahead of anticipated higher steel prices as well.

     The gains also came on the heels of a price increase of $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt) initiated last month by Cleveland-Cliffs. Other major mills didn’t publicly follow that price hike but are now quietly enforcing higher prices, market participants said.

    Michael Cowden

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    Plate supply squeeze tightens as demand presses higher

    The domestic plate market is showing few signs of relief for steel buyers. Lead times are stretching well beyond seasonal norms, spot availability has all but evaporated, and mills are drawing hard lines on contract volumes heading into 2027 negotiations. And the supply squeeze will likely intensify in a market that some industry sources say is structurally undersupplied because of stringent US trade and tariff policies. Imports have been arriving in larger volumes, and the expectation is they will continue to tick higher into 2027. The big question is whether those foreign tons will arrive in volumes sufficient to provide the relief steel consumers want.