Market Data
December 16, 2025
SMU price ranges: Sheet market rising ahead of holidays
Written by Brett Linton
Following last week’s pause, SMU’s price indices were overall steady to higher this week, holding at or near multi-month highs.
Hot-rolled (HR) coil prices resumed their upwards climb, increasing $15 per short ton (st) to $910/st. HR prices have risen $50/st over the past month and were last this high back in April. Meanwhile, our cold-rolled (CR) coil index held at a five-month high of $1,070/st, up $40/st compared to the middle of November.
Coated prices ticked higher at differing rates, both resting at six-month highs. Our galvanized index ticked up $5/st week over week (w/w) to $1,040. Galvalume took a larger step, increasing $25/st to $1,050/st. Coated prices are $50-60/st above level seen one month ago.
After two months of consistently holding steady or increasing, our plate index eased $5/st this week to $1,020/st. Last week, this index had touched a near four-month high of $1,025/st. Plate has seen less severe increases in comparison to sheet products, up just $5/st over the past month.
SMU’s price momentum indicator remains at Higher for both sheet and plate products, signaling that we expect prices to continue rising from here.
Refer to Table 1 (click to enlarge) for our latest price indices and trends.
Hot-rolled coil: $890–930/st, averaging $910/st
The lower end of our range is up $30/st w/w, while the top end is unchanged. Our overall average is up $15/st w/w.
Hot-rolled lead times range from 4–9 weeks, averaging 5.6 weeks as of our Dec. 11 market survey.
Cold-rolled coil: $1,040–1,100/st, averaging $1,070/st
Our range is unchanged w/w.
Cold-rolled lead times range from 5–10 weeks, averaging 7.1 weeks through our latest survey.
Galvanized coil: $980–1,100/st, averaging $1,040/st
The lower end of our range is up $10/st w/w, while the top end is unchanged. Our overall average is up $5/st w/w.
Galvanized .060” G90 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,058–1,178/st, averaging $1,118/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvanized lead times range from 5-10 weeks, averaging 7.1 weeks through our latest survey.
Galvalume coil: $1,000–1,100/st, averaging $1,050/st
The lower end of our range is up $30/st w/w, while the top end is up $20/st. Our overall average is up $25/st w/w.
Galvalume .0142” AZ50, grade 80 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,354–1,454/st, averaging $1,404/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvalume lead times range from 5–10 weeks, averaging 7.3 weeks through our latest survey.
Plate: $980–1,060/st, averaging $1,020/st
The lower end of our range is down $10/st w/w, while the top end is unchanged. Our overall average is down $5/st w/w.
Plate lead times range from 4–7 weeks, averaging 5.3 weeks through our latest survey.
