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    SMU Price Ranges: Sheet and plate prices rise further

    Written by Brett Linton


    SMU’s price indices increased across the board this week, reaching new multi-month highs. Sheet prices rose by as much as $35 per short ton (st) from last week, while plate ticked up $5/st. Prices are now $25-55/st higher than they were this time last month.

    Hot-rolled coil prices jumped $30/st week over week (w/w) to a four-month high of $860/st. This marks the sixth-consecutive weekly gain and the largest weekly increase since March.

    Brett Linton

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    Latest in Market Data

    Apparent steel supply remains historically strong through August

    The volume of finished steel that entered the US market increased 1% from July to August to the second-highest monthly level recorded in the past four years, according to SMU’s analysis of recently released Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. Apparent steel supply is calculated by combining domestic mill shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US exports. It can be used as a proxy for domestic steel demand. Supply has remained historically strong since May, when it surpassed the 9 million st mark it had previously been beneath for four years.

    US shipments of heating and cooling equipment slow further in August

    Total shipments of heating and cooling equipment cooled further in August, according to the latest figures from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). After falling 11% month on month (m/m) in July, shipments slipped another 10% in August. The monthly pace marks the third-slowest shipment rate year-to-date. Shipments of water heaters, air conditioners, and heat pumps declined m/m, while warm-air furnace shipments picked up. Compared with a year earlier, only air conditioners and heat pumps increased.