Tag: Sheet

SMU’s sheet and plate price indices were steady to higher this week, with all products at multi-year highs.

Foreign steel is gaining traction with US buyers, according to SMU's most recent Flat-Rolled Steel Survey. Most manufacturers and service centers now report competitive pricing, and more are placing new foreign orders.

Sources across the hot-rolled coil spot market said it was somewhat easier to find spot HR, at moderately shorter lead times, and at stable prices in recent days. 

The US Department of Commerce is adjusting the import duties on Korean cold-rolled and galvanized steel after two administrative reviews.

SMU’s Steel Demand Index saw a slight decline in growth, slightly behind early July, but remaining in elevated territory, according to mid-to-late July indicators.

Steel mill lead times have trended upward since last November and now stand at or near multi-year highs for all products.

The majority of steel buyers responding to our market survey this week report that mills are holding a firm grip on prices

Sheet prices continued to grind higher this week on factors familiar to most steel market participants: extremely limited spot availability, long lead times, low inventories, and firm demand.

Nucor said its consumer spot price for hot-rolled coil will be $1,135 per short ton for the week of July 20.

Steel exports eased 1% in May and remain significantly lower than trade of previous years.

US service centers’ flat-rolled steel supply was down marginally in June, and lower for a sixth straight month. Shipping days of supply slipped to 44.5, according to SMU data.

Hot-rolled and cold-rolled prices held steady again this week while prices for coated products and plate continued to tick upward.

A worker died on Saturday morning at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works near St. Louis, the company and the United Steelworkers (USW) union said.

Some domestic hot-rolled coil market participants say they expect prices for hot-rolled coils to remain stable through the end of 2026.  The market participants predicted that mills would hold spot prices and incrementally tighten lead times. Continuing, that they’ll find imported product arrivals, experience seasonal demand dips and all conditions will culminate in stable prices throughout the summer.   Asked […]

On July 1, CRU launched a US Galvalume coil benchmark price to serve this growing market.

Read the latest CRU Outlook on global sheet prices and the market for the coming months.

If a trend of flat lead times holds, it would represent a change. And we’ve also seen a few of the other indicators we track slip from historic highs – so the potential shift is worth paying attention to.

Steel mill lead times for flat-rolled steel this week remained extended at historical highs. Plate production times crept out further, while hot-rolled and cold-rolled (HR/CR) coil saw minor contractions.

Algoma Steel is in talks with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) following the Canadian government's selection of the German company as the preferred supplier of submarines.

CRU's Josh Spoores takes a deep dive into the HR futures market.

Market reaction to Nucor’s move was mixed. Some sources said a flat CSP reflected concerns that further increases in US HR prices could attract more import competition. Others expressed frustration. Their view: CSP has kept a lid on prices, something that shouldn’t happen when many buyers remain more concerned about availability than price.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reports that US mill shipments increased 6.2% in May from April. 

The investigation follows requests from US producers Nucor and Steel Dynamics.

Hot-rolled coil spot market participants told SMU they see no evidence of the market softening in the near term.  

We’ve gotten so used to the slow, steady increases by now that $5/ton feels like the new flat. And flat, after so many consecutive weeks of gains, feels like a decrease.

Hot-rolled (HR) coil and plate prices continued to tick higher even as cold-rolled (CR) and coated prices came in unchanged, according to SMU’s latest check of the market.

Wells Fargo's Timna Tanners thinks the steel price rally will be falling off as we get further into the second half.

Nucor held its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil at $1,130 per short ton (st) for the week of June 29. The sideways move is the first of its kind since Jan. 21.

Some hot-rolled coil buyers expect continued incremental price increases from domestic mills. Others expect steeper increases, even if it risks inviting imports.

“Ohio Strip Steel reflects who we are today and where we’re going,” the Dover, Ohio-based company said.