SMU Price Ranges: HR and CR flat, coated and plate up

Consecutive weeks of flat pricing might not seem like a big deal. That said, SMU has reported mostly rising HR prices since late October. And we haven’t posted back-to-back weeks with unchanged pricing since early March, according to our pricing records.

Market reaction

Market reaction to Nucor’s unchanged CSP was mixed. Some sources said a flat CSP reflected concerns further increases in US HR prices could attract additional import competition. Others expressed frustration. Their view: CSP has kept a lid on HR prices, something that shouldn’t happen when many buyers remain more concerned about availability than about price.

SMU’s CR price also remained unchanged at $1,360/st. We haven’t posted consecutive weeks of unchanged CR prices since late March.

But while HR and CR prices were flat this week, market participants generally agreed demand remained firm – even if imports appear to be playing a bigger role in the domestic market than they did earlier this year.

Coated prices continued to rise. SMU’s galvanized base price stands at $1,350/st on average, up $10/st from last week. Galvalume prices also rose $10/st week over week to $1,360/st on average.

Cold-rolled and galvanized prices have in recent months notched bigger gains than HR prices. Some market participants attributed the trend to prices for cold-rolled and tandem products not being held back by CSP. (Nucor does not published a CSP for CR and coated products.)

Others said the trend of stronger CR and galv pricing might also reflect certain automotive customers building precautionary “strike banks” (typically 30 days of supply). Why? The Sept. 1 expiration of labor contracts between the United Steelworkers (USW) and Cleveland-Cliffs as well as between the USW and U.S. Steel. Both Cliffs and USS are major suppliers to the automotive sector.

On the plate side, market participants reported higher prices and increasing availability concerns. SMU’s plate price stands at $1,335/st on average, up $15/st from last week and marking the highest point for plate tags since February 2024.

The supply squeeze on plate comes as JSW Steel USA approaches a planned six-week outage, slated to begin in August, at its plate mill in Baytown, Texas. Meanwhile, a major plate producer was said to be limiting customer buys. Contributing to the tightness: Plate is a more protected market than sheet in terms of AD/CVD cases.

Momentum

SMU’s price momentum indicator remains at higher for both sheet and plate products, signaling that we expect prices to increase further in the short term.

By the numbers

Refer to Table 1 (click to enlarge) for our latest price indices and trends.

Hot-rolled coil: $1,120–1,200/st, averaging $1,160/st

Our range is unchanged week over week (w/w).

Hot-rolled lead times range from 6–12 weeks, averaging 7.7 weeks as of our June 25 market survey. We will publish updated lead times on Thursday.

Cold-rolled coil: $1,320–1,400/st, averaging $1,360/st

Our range is unchanged w/w.

Cold-rolled lead times range from 7–12 weeks, averaging 9.3 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvanized coil: $1,300–1,400/st, averaging $1,350/st

The lower end of our range is unchanged w/w, while the top end is up $20/st. Our overall average is up $10/st w/w.

Galvanized .060×48” G90 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,399–1,499/st, averaging $1,449/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Note that this spec includes $99/st in mill extras, and extras may vary by mill.

Galvanized lead times range from 7–11 weeks, averaging 9.0 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvalume coil: $1,320–1,400/st, averaging $1,360/st

The lower end of our range is up $20/st w/w, while the top end is unchanged. Our overall average is up $10/st w/w.

Galvalume .0142×42” AZ50, grade 80 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,920–2,000/st, averaging $1,960/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Note that this spec includes $600/st in mill extras, and extras may vary by mill.

Galvalume lead times range from 8–11 weeks, averaging 8.5 weeks through our latest survey.

Plate: $1,310–1,360/st, averaging $1,335/st

The lower end of our range is up $20/st w/w, while the top end is up $10/st. Our overall average is up $15/st w/w.

Plate lead times range from 6–12 weeks, averaging 8.0 weeks through our latest survey.