Hot-rolled coil and plate lead times contracted this week, with most other products remaining flat, according to SMU's most recent survey data. Cold-rolled products, however, saw lead times extend 0.1 weeks to an average of 7.5 weeks vs. two weeks earlier. Hot rolled and plate lead times both contracted 0.3 weeks from our last market check.
Sheet steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders, according to our most recent survey data.
Sheet prices were again mixed this week – all seemed to highlight the momentum shift seen over the past two weeks.
Prices of steelmaking raw materials have moved in different directions over the last 30 days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis.
Sheet prices varied this week. While hot-rolled (HR) coil pricing was largely flat, cold-rolled (CR) coil and tandem product pricing eased slightly reflecting the momentum shift seen last week for HR coil. SMU’s average HR coil price was flat from last week at $835 per short ton (st) – potentially emphasizing the tension between competing […]
The market appears to be taking a pause after the heavy buying that occurred in March.
Steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders on all the products SMU covers, according to our most recent survey data.
Sheet prices saw a slight momentum shift this week after consecutive gains in the prior two weeks. Plate edged lower on greater competition off easing demand, according to our latest check of the steel market.
Sheet prices moved higher this week for the second consecutive week, while plate prices ticked lower, according to our latest canvas of the steel market.
After stabilizing in our last check of the market, production times for flat-rolled steel have begun to push out further, according to steel buyers responding to SMU's market survey this week.
Steel buyers report that mills are less willing to talk price on new sheet orders than they were in weeks past, according to our most recent survey data. In contrast, mills’ willingness to negotiate on plate products remains relatively high, now at the second-highest rate of the year.
Sheet prices reversed course and moved higher this week, while plate priced remained flat, according to our latest canvas of the market.
Sheet and plate prices mostly moved lower this week after little change was noted the week prior. Despite edging down, sentiment is mixed, and many suggest a bottom may be near.
Prices of most steelmaking raw materials have moved lower over the last 30 days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis.
Steel buyers found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing on the products SMU tracks with the exception of hot rolled, according to our most recent survey data.
Steel mill lead times were flat to slightly up, according to our market survey this week.
Sheet and plate prices were mostly flat this week – largely in response to the mill price blitz from last week – pausing the downtrend they’d been on for the better part of 2024.
Flat-rolled steel prices have been running downhill in a hurry since the beginning of the year. In some ways, it's no surprise because other indicators have also been pointing lower for some time. Lead times have been contracting since the beginning of the year and are now below the five-week mark for hot-rolled (HR) coil for the first time since September. Mills are more willing to negotiate lower prices, and early reports seem to indicate that scrap might settle lower again in March.
Sheet and plate prices this week continued the downward trend they’ve been on for most of 2024. Some market sources predicted that a wave of spring maintenance outages would help to stabilize lead times and prices in the weeks ahead – especially should service center inventories, high at the beginning of the year, come down meaningfully.
A clear consensus has emerged among respondents to SMU’s latest steel market survey that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices will bottom this month or in April. Seventy-five percent of respondents to our latest survey think that prices will find a floor before May as the chart below shows:
Steel mill lead times shrunk by an average of 0.3 weeks, according to our latest market survey, now nearing levels last seen in September of last year.
Steel buyers generally found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing on the products SMU surveys this week, according to our most recent survey data.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices have fallen further this week, working their way to $800 per short ton (st) on average – a mark not seen since late October.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices have fallen below $900 per short ton (st) on average for the first time since early November. SMU’s HR price stands at $875/st on average, down $65/st from a week ago and down $170/st from the beginning of the year.
Mill lead times for flat-rolled steel were mostly stable over the past two weeks. With several mills slow to come out of outages and upgrades, cold rolled and coated lead times have been holding up better than hot rolled.
The percentage of sheet buyers finding mills willing to negotiate spot pricing rose or remained relatively flat on the products SMU surveys, while plate slumped, according to our most recent survey data.
Sheet prices have fallen again this week on shorter lead times, higher imports, and potentially higher inventories. (We’ll see for sure when we release our service center shipment and inventory data next week.) I remember reporting almost exactly the same thing about a month ago and getting a fair amount of pushback. Not so much these days.
The pace of sheet price declines accelerated this week as steel buyers said that domestic mills were competing against each other while also coping with higher-than-expected import volumes. “They are getting rid of the fluff. When you can pit 2-3 mills against each other, the fat margins get cut,” one industry source said.
2023 was the third-lowest year for steel imports in the last decade, according to an SMU analysis of data from the US Department of Commerce.
Sheet prices fell across the board this week as SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price slipped below $1,000 per short ton (st) on average for the first time since November.