Steel Products Prices North America
SMU Price Ranges & Indices: It's Early Yet
Written by Brett Linton
March 25, 2014
Reasons: The first reason being the limited number of buyers who admitted they had actually placed any tonnage since the flat rolled price increases were announced. Second, was the vast difference between northern fully integrated mills, mini-mills and conversion mill spot pricing. We need to remember all three groups are part of our index and finally there were many transactions concluded late last week based on pre-announcement quotes.
SMU Price Momentum Indicator Adjusted to Reflect Higher Prices Anticipated Over Next 30 Days
We did collect enough evidence to cause us to move the SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Higher from Neutral. We now believe there is enough momentum behind the domestic mills which will keep prices stable to slightly higher over the next 30 days. How long and how high prices can go appear to be limited – but, this may change if scrap prices move higher and the domestic mill order books stretch from here.
Here is how we are seeing prices this week:
Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $620-$640 per ton ($31.00/cwt- $32.00/cwt) with an average of $630 per ton ($31.50/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 remained the same. 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 $730-$760 per ton ($36.50/cwt- $38.00/cwt) with an average of $745 per ton ($37.25/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 $720-$760 per ton ($36.00/cwt- $38.00/cwt) with an average of $740 per ton ($37.00/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 increased by $10 per ton. Our average is now $15 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 $780-$820 per ton with an average of $800 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvanized Lead Times: 4-8 weeks.
Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $720-$760 per ton ($36.00/cwt- $38.00/cwt) with an average of $740 per ton ($37.00/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. Our 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 $1011-$1051 per ton with an average of $1031 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.
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Brett Linton
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