SMU Price Ranges: Tags move up as spot tons dry up

While lower-priced import offers are garnering interest, few see import competition resulting in lower domestic prices in the short term.

“We can’t source any hot-rolled (HR) on the spot market,” one Midwest service center source said.

Another Midwest source agreed. “I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better based on fall outages and mills continuing to be late.”

Meanwhile, several sources noted certain mills plan to hold HR customers to their contract mins for the balance of the year.

“There is just no steel to be had,” a third buyer source said.

By the numbers

SMU’s HR price stands at $1,180 per short ton (st) on average, up $15/st from last week and marking the highest point for HR since June 2022. It was a similar story with cold-rolled (CR) coil, which weighed in at $1,390/st, up $15/st from last week and marking its highest point since July 2022.

On the coated side, both hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume came in at $1,400/st on average. HDG was up $20/st from last week and Galvalume was up $15/st week over week. Like CR, HDG is at its highest point since July 2022.

Plate, meanwhile, jumped to $1,380/st on average, up $25/st from last week and marking its highest point since January 2024.

Momentum

SMU’s price momentum indicators remain at higher for both sheet and plate because we expect prices to continue to increase in the short term.

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

Hot-rolled coil: $1,160–1,200/st, averaging $1,180/st

The lower end of our range is up $30/st week on week (w/w), while the top end is unchanged. Our overall average is up $15/st w/w.

Hot-rolled lead times range from 5–12 weeks, averaging 7.8 weeks as of our July 22 market survey.

Cold-rolled coil: $1,360–1,420/st, averaging $1,390/st

The lower end of our range is up $30/st w/w, while the top end is flat. Our overall average is up $15/st w/w.

Cold-rolled lead times range from 6–12 weeks, averaging 8.9 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvanized coil: $1,360–1,440/st, averaging $1,400/st

The lower end and top end of our range are $20/st higher w/w. Our overall average is up $20/st w/w.

Galvanized .060×48” G90 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,459–1,539/st, averaging $1,499/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 6–12 weeks, averaging 9.0 weeks through our latest survey.

Galvalume coil: $1,360–1,440/st, averaging $1,400/st

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

Galvalume .0142×42” AZ50, grade 80 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,960–2,040/st, averaging $2,000/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 6–12 weeks, averaging 8.8 weeks through our latest survey.

Plate: $1,330–1,430/st, averaging $1,380/st

The lower end of our range is up $20/st w/w, while the top end is $30/st higher. Our overall average is up $25/st w/w.

Plate lead times range from 6–11 weeks, averaging 8.8 weeks through our latest survey.