Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Ranges & Indices: Steel Prices Moving Again

January 7, 2014

This is the first “official” week of the New Year and all eyes are on the domestic mills to see if they can continue to hold the line – take that back – if they can break the stalemate we saw during the month of December and push flat rolled steel prices higher from here. That is what the industry is used to – higher prices during the first quarter. However, that is not what happened one year ago and no one is quite certain what will happen in the next few weeks. Let’s just say there is more than one opinion as some buyers feel prices have reached the zenith and we slip from here while others feel demand is good – much better than people realize – inventories are tight and prices have room to roam.

Steel Market Update is beginning the year where we left off – our SMU Price Momentum Indicator is pointing toward higher prices over the short term and we are left wondering if demand will keep up with supply.

We have picked up a couple of data points this week which are causing us some concern and we will continue to investigate prices on a daily basis to make sure we are reporting as accurate information as we possibly can.

Even so, based on our ongoing survey results and channel checks we are reporting pricing as up this week on all products.

Here is how we are seeing prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $660-$700 per ton ($33.00/cwt- $35.00/cwt) with an average of $680 per ton ($34.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range increased by $10 per ton compared to last week’s prices. Our average is now $10 per ton higher compared to last week. Our expectation is for hot rolled pricing to move sideways to slightly higher over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 3-6 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $770-$800 per ton ($38.50/cwt- $40.00/cwt) with an average of $785 per ton ($39.25/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. SMU anticipates cold rolled prices will move sideways to slightly higher over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $770-$810 per ton ($38.50/cwt- $40.50/cwt) with an average of $790 per ton ($39.50/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range increased by $10 per ton compared to last week’s prices. Our average is now $10 per ton higher compared to last week. SMU anticipates galvanized base prices will trend sideways to slightly higher over the next 30 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $830-$870 per ton with an average of $850 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-8 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $770-$820 per ton ($38.50/cwt- $41.00/cwt) with an average of $795 per ton ($39.75/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range remained the same compared to last week while the upper end increased by $10 per ton. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to last week. The expectation is for Galvalume prices to move sideways to slightly higher over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $1061-$1111 per ton with an average of $1086 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

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