Final Thoughts
June 26, 2026
Written by Michael Cowden
We are pleased to present this week’s Final Thoughts, now delivered as its own newsletter and written by SMU editor-in-chief Michael Cowden.
I saw this post pop into my LinkedIn feed today. I assumed it was from a few hours ago. The text seemed OK. But I wanted to figure out how we somehow got the prices wrong.
The rally in steel sheet prices is officially a year old. We haven’t seen a yearlong price rally since 2021, when a snapback in demand following the early days of the pandemic resulted in one of the biggest steel market booms since World War II.
If the question is, “Brother, can you spare a spot ton?” The answer from many mills might be “No.” Or perhaps, in the case of hot-rolled (HR) coil, “Do you have $1,300 per ton?”
If you’re looking for a deal on steel, this last week wasn’t the one to find one. (Nor was the week before that. Or the week before that.) Meanwhile, contract negotiations are heating up in one of the tightest markets since at least 2021. I've heard discounts will be lower, min-max ranges will be tighter, and there will be less freight equalization and waiving extras.
First, a big thank you to everyone who attended SMU Steel Summit this week and the inaugural AMU Aluminum Summit as well. I’m not going to crow too much about it being another record year in terms of attendance. But it was—and you made that possible. Also, it’s always great to see the entire steel […]
A potential trade deal with Canada and a possible reduction in Section 232 tariffs has rocketed back into the news just a few weeks after it seemed like negotiations between Washington and Ottawa were kaput.