SMU Price Ranges: Sheet prices rise to multiyear highs

By the numbers

SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price clocked in at $1,165 per short ton (st) on average. That’s up $5/st from last week and marks the highest level for HR prices since June 2022, according to SMU pricing records. Our cold-rolled (CR) coil price is at $1,365/st, up $5 from last week and marking the highest point since April 2023.

Gains in coated were steeper. Our galvanized base price now stands at $1,375/st on average, up $15/st from last week as spot shortages more typically associated with HR spread to the coated side of the market as well. Galvalume prices, meanwhile, are at $1,380/st on average, up $10/st from last week. Both figures represent the highest point for coated prices since April 2023.

Plate prices remained unchanged at $1,350/st this week after increasing by $15/st last week amid a tight market and mill price hikes.

Market chatter

The price gains came amid chatter of a possible unplanned outage last week on the blast furnace at Cleveland-Cliffs’ Middletown Works in Ohio. Rumors as to the seriousness of the outage varied significantly. Some sources said there was no significant production impact. Others said tens of thousands of tons of production might have been lost.

Cliffs did not respond to requests for comment or clarification by the time of publication on Tuesday afternoon. More clarity might come during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday.

The chatter around Middletown also sparked discussions about continued production delays at other domestic producers, including mills typically known for short lead times and on-time deliveries.

Tariff-palooza

Meanwhile, some market participants questioned what impact of a new round of tariffs might have on the broader steel market. Recall that Section 122 tariffs are set to expire on Friday. The Trump administration has indicated it will replace those tariffs with others – whether Section 301s, Section 338s, or additional Section 232s.

There were questions about whether rates might increase should any new tariffs “stack” on top of existing one. There were also questions about potential tariff reductions should a precedent be set by a measure to lower duties on some imported aluminum. (Aluminum Market Update has more on the aluminum tariffs here.)

Despite the tariff uncertainty, market participants generally reported good demand and solid bookings across a range of end markets. And there could be pockets of unexpected strength with, for example, structural tubing replacing beams in some applications because of exceedingly long lead times for the latter.

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.

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

Hot-rolled coil: $1,130–1,200/st, averaging $1,165/st

The lower end of our range is unchanged week over week (w/w), while the top end is up $10/st. Our overall average is up $5/st w/w.

Hot-rolled lead times range from 5–12 weeks, averaging 7.3 weeks as of our July 8 market survey. We will publish updated lead times on Thursday.

Cold-rolled coil: $1,330–1,400/st, averaging $1,365/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.

Cold-rolled lead times range from 6–12 weeks, averaging 9.0 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvanized coil: $1,340–1,410/st, averaging $1,375/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.

Galvanized .060×48” G90 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,439–1,509/st, averaging $1,474/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 6–13 weeks, averaging 9.0 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvalume coil: $1,340–1,420/st, averaging $1,380/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.

Galvalume .0142×42” AZ50, grade 80 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,940–2,020/st, averaging $1,980/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: $1,300–1,400/st, averaging $1,350/st

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

Plate lead times range from 6–12 weeks, averaging 8.6 weeks through our latest survey.