Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Written by John Packard


We will begin our mid-September flat rolled steel market trends analysis first thing on Monday morning. Invitations to participate will go out at 8 AM ET tomorrow morning. We currently send out approximately 650 invitations.

Note: We are correcting the galvanized comparison of coating extras as Nucor has not yet made a change to the schedule they are using. I also want to remind our readers that when reviewing our CPI, or on Tuesdays our galvanized .060″ G90 pricing, we continue to use the existing U.S. Steel extras and not the new NLMK USA extras. I know that at least one index has gone to the higher extras. We will not make a move until U.S. Steel, Nucor and ArcelorMittal decide what they are going to do.

When negotiating contract pricing, steel buyers should be aware that things like coating extras can be negotiable. We understand, from conversations we are having with steel mills, that the process of negotiating 2018 contracts has started, although we are very early in the process. Coating extras will be one area where the domestic mills may be looking for higher prices.

As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher

Latest in Final Thoughts

Final thoughts

Last week was a newsy one for the US sheet market. Nucor’s announcement that it would publish a weekly HR spot price was the talk of the town – whether that was in chatter among colleagues, at the Boy Scouts of America Metals Industry dinner, or in SMU’s latest market survey. Some think that it could Nucor's spot HR price could bring stability to notoriously volatile US sheet prices, according to SMU's latest steel market survey. Others think it’s too early to gauge its impact. And still others said they were leery of any attempt by producers to control prices.