Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Numbers Pop

April 1, 2014

We have been hearing of a very strong booking week at many of the domestic steel mills this past week. With the hot end of USS Great Lakes down and other flat rolled steel production issues within the domestic steel mill ranks, we have seen a tightening of flat rolled steel pricing.

We have heard the marching orders out of a couple of mills are to stay the course at the new announced base price minimums: $33.00/cwt on hot rolled and $39.50/cwt on cold rolled and coated.

The upper end of our range has indeed reached the base price minimums based on this week’s market analysis. We have also seen the lower end of the range jump on just about every product.

Momentum is clearly on the supply side (steel mills) at this moment.

The weakest link at this point in time appears to be Galvalume which is being impacted by foreign imported prepainted and base. One of the southern mills advised SMU that they have not been able to get their prices up as high as they should be due to the massive imports which are affecting their order book.

Otherwise, we see a pretty united domestic mill industry and our expectation is that the full increases will be captured in the spot market if the USS Great Lakes and other production issues persist.

Here is how we are seeing prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $630-$660 per ton ($31.50/cwt- $33.00/cwt) with an average of $645 per ton ($32.25/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 increased by $20 per ton. Our average is now $15 per ton higher compared to last week. Our expectation is for hot rolled pricing to move sideways over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 3-6 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $750-$790 per ton ($37.50/cwt- $39.50/cwt) with an average of $770 per ton ($38.50/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 increased by $30 per ton. Our average is now $25 per ton higher compared to last week. SMU anticipates cold rolled prices will move sideways over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $760-$790 per ton ($38.00/cwt- $39.50/cwt) with an average of $775 per ton ($38.75/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased by $40 per ton compared to last week while the upper end increased by $30 per ton. Our average is now $35 per ton higher compared to last week. SMU anticipates galvanized base prices will trend sideways over the next 30 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $820-$850 per ton with an average of $835 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-8 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $740-$790 per ton ($37.00/cwt- $39.50/cwt) with an average of $765 per ton ($38.25/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 $30 per ton. Our average is now $25 per ton higher compared to last week. Our expectation is for Galvalume prices to move sideways over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $1031-$1081 per ton with an average of $1056 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

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