Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Showtime

Written by John Packard

October 8, 2013

Buyers are telling Steel Market Update (SMU) that there have been some spot price offers which were held through the end of this past week. Most, however, are informing us that those mills who publicly announced new pricing are asking for increases and holding the line. We don’t doubt that there could be some orders placed at higher prices this week but we have not been able to find any companies willing to admit paying the top numbers.

Most buyers believe whether the mills will be able to collect some, or all, of the announced price increases will be better known in the next few weeks. Some believe the service center inventories are so low that they will not have any option but to buy steel within the next couple of weeks. Second, a number of mills with whom we have spoke are comfortable with their order book and willing to walk away from short term tons.

So, it is getting close to showtime – as buyers and sellers face off to see who will blink first.

Until then here is how we are seeing prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $630-$650 per ton ($31.50/cwt- $32.50/cwt) with an average of $640 per ton ($32.00/cwt) fob mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased by $10 per ton compared to last week while the upper end remained the same. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to last week. The trend for hot rolled is for prices to remain relatively stable over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 3-6 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $740-$760 per ton ($37.00/cwt- $38.00/cwt) with an average of $750 per ton ($37.50/cwt) fob mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased by $20 per ton compared to last week while the upper end decreased by $10 per ton. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to last week. The trend for cold rolled is for prices to remain relatively stable over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $740-$770 per ton ($37.00/cwt- $38.50/cwt) with an average of $755 per ton ($37.75/cwt) fob mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased by $10 per ton compared to last week while the upper end remained the same. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to last week. The trend for galvanized is for prices to remain relatively stable over the next 30 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $800-$830 per ton with an average of $815 per ton.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-8 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $730-$770 per ton ($36.50/cwt- $38.50/cwt) with an average of $750 per ton ($37.50/cwt) fob mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper end of our range remained the same compared to last week. Our average is unchanged compared to last week. The trend for Galvalume is for prices to remain relatively stable over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $1021-$1061 per ton with an average of $1041 per ton.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

John Packard

Read more from John Packard

Latest in Steel Products Prices North America