Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Time to Wait and See

Written by Brett Linton

July 1, 2014

We are moving deeper into a holiday week and, with the exception of US Steel, all is quiet on the western (and eastern for that matter) front. The US Steel announcement of a $25 per ton base price increase on spot flat rolled prices has created some interest within the steel community. However, we are hearing from the larger buyers that everything is status quo and they are able to purchase spot tonnage at levels similar to those referenced last week. We did make two minor adjustments on coated steels raising the lower end of the range by $10 per ton ($.50/cwt). We will do a deeper analysis this time next week when buyers return from the 4th of July holiday and we conduct our early July flat rolled survey.

Here is how we see prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $640-$680 per ton ($32.00/cwt- $34.00/cwt) with an average of $660 per ton ($33.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range remained unchanged compared to last week. Our average is the same compared to last week. SMU price momentum for hot rolled is for prices to remain neutral over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 2-6 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $760-$810 per ton ($38.00/cwt- $40.50/cwt) with an average of $785 per ton ($39.25/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range remained unchanged compared to last week, as did our average. SMU price momentum on cold rolled is for prices to remain neutral over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 4-8 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price 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 $10 per ton compared to last week while the upper end remained unchanged. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to one week ago. SMU anticipates galvanized base prices will remain neutral 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: 5-9 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $750-$800 per ton ($37.50/cwt- $40.00/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 $10 per ton compared to one week ago while the upper end remained the same. Our average is now $5 per ton higher compared to last week. Our expectation is for Galvalume prices to remain neutral over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $1051-$1091 per ton with an average of $1071 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

SMU Note: You can view the interactive graphic below when you are logged into the website and reading the newsletter online. If you have not logged into the website in the past and need a new user name and password we can do that for you out of our office. Contact us at: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by calling 800-432-3475. If you need help navigating the website we would also be happy to assist you.

{amchart id=”110″ Weekly Pricing Article Graph- Use for NEWSLETTER}

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

Read more from Brett Linton

Latest in Steel Products Prices North America