Sheet steel indices increased across the board this week, while plate prices held steady. All five of SMU’s price indices are higher than they were two weeks ago, and all but one are above levels recorded four weeks ago.
Participants on this month’s Heating Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council call expect galvanized steel base prices to firm up in the first quarter of 2026.
Steel Dynamics Inc.’s third-quarter profits jumped year over year as the company saw “record” quarterly steel shipments
After marginally rising in August and September, the premium galvanized coil carries over hot-rolled coil (HRC) coil has narrowed again in recent weeks. As of Sept. 16, the spread between these two products has shrunk to a two-and-a-half-year low of $125 per short ton (st).
Mills are more willing to negotiate spot prices for both sheet and plate products, according to our latest market survey results.
AZZ Inc. delivered steady results in its fiscal second quarter. While infrastructure-heavy work buoyed its Metal Coatings segment, its Precoat Metals business navigated softer building markets and tariff-driven uncertainty.
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
Sheet and plate lead times saw minor shifts this week, according to SMU’s latest market survey. Sheet times have inched up over the last month but remain within days of multi-year lows, as they have since May. Plate lead times have bobbed within a tight range for months, hovering roughly a week longer than this time last year.
Steel buyers say mills remain slightly more willing to negotiate spot prices for sheet and plate products than in mid-September, according to our latest market survey.
Sheet times ticked higher but remain within days of multi-year lows, territory they have been in since May. Plate lead times have shifted lower in the past month but remain about a week longer than they were at this time last year.
The premium galvanized coil carries over hot-rolled coil (HRC) coil has marginally widened in recent months. As of Sept. 16, the spread between these two products reached a three-month high of $175 per short ton (st), though it is still low by historical standards.
Half of the participants on this month's Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council call expect galvanized steel base prices to remain flat at ~$48 per hundredweight ($960/short ton) for the next 30 days.
Sheet and plate lead times held steady yet again this week, according to steel buyers responding to our latest market survey, a trend in place since May.
The majority of steel buyers responding to this week’s market survey continue to report that mills are open to negotiating spot prices on sheet and plate products.
Steel prices remained largely unchanged this week, staying at or near lows last seen in February. All five sheet and plate products tracked by SMU moved by no more than $5 per short ton (st) from the previous week.
The Commerce Department announced the final anti-dumping and countervailing duty (CVD) margins in the sprawling trade case investigating corrosion-resistant steel imports.
Steel buyers report steady lead times for sheet and plate products, a soft-sideways trend we've seen since May.
Galvanized steel prices dipped to ~$48/hundredweight in August from the $50-59/hundredweight range during the month of July.
All five of SMU's steel sheet and plate price indices declined this week, falling to lows last seen in February.
Mill production times for sheet products are holding just above multi-year lows, while plate lead times remain elevated.
Most steel buyers continue to report that mills are open to negotiating spot prices. Negotiation rates have remained high for most of the past three months.
Sheet and plate prices were either flat or modestly lower this week on softer demand and increasing domestic capacity.
Sheet prices slipped again this week amid discounting from certain mills and ongoing concerns about demand.
Attorneys representing domestic petitioners and foreign respondent companies have been busy filing case briefings and making rebuttals as the corrosion-resistant steel unfair trade investigations begin to wind down.
Steel mill lead times on sheet products contracted across the board this week compared to early July, while plate production times moderately extended, according to steel buyers responding to this week’s market survey.
More than nine out of every ten steel buyers polled by SMU this week reported that mills are negotiable on new order prices. Negotiation rates have increased in each of our last three surveys following the early-June lull, reaching a record high this week.
Steel prices continued to decline this week across all of the sheet and plate products tracked by SMU, pressured by short lead times and the typical summer slowdown.
Galvanized steel prices ping-ponged in the $50/hundredweight range during the month of July, settling in at roughly the same position as in June.
The Canada Border Services Agency has terminated a self-initiated dumping investigation of corrosion-resistant steel sheet (CORE) from Turkey.
US sheet and plate prices were flat or lower as reduced import volumes were offset by so-so demand.