Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Hot Rolled Average Reaches $600

December 23, 2014

Steel buyers were few and far between this week as everyone prepares for Christmas and Hanukkah holiday celebrations. Even so, those who were working this week and responding to our queries reported aggressive steel mills on all flat rolled products. We have seen erosion at the upper end of our range on all products and benchmark hot rolled has hit $600 per ton for the first time this year.

We received a number of comments from both service centers and manufacturing companies. Here are some examples of what we heard earlier today:

“Mills continue to offer lower spot numbers, trying to generate orders. I don’t see a change in tone, and in fact, believe that some mills are very concerned about 1st quarter orders as we get closer to year end. Demand remains good for us – constant.” Large service center group.

“HR at $600 for any level of spot volume now. Large volume can fetch $570 but I don’t think there are many transactions occurring due to holidays. Plate is slipping and looks more vulnerable heading into New Year; fob mill prices are $760-780 for plate.” Large national service center

“I am getting phone calls about short lead times (less than 3 weeks) for small tons; but I’m not interested. I also heard mills are producing floor stock in typical spot buy sizes. My contract tons for end of January release have already been produced in HRB/HRPO.” Manufacturing company.

We are seeing $29.00 from most of our suppliers without volume commitments. It doesn’t mean that the price is necessarily lower but I believe that it is if we fish with larger tons. (5,000 or more)” Large manufacturing company.

Here is how we see flat rolled prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $580-$620 per ton ($29.00/cwt- $31.00/cwt) with an average of $600 per ton ($30.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower ends of our range decreased by $10 per ton compared to last week. Our average is now $10 less than one week ago. SMU price momentum for hot rolled steel is for prices to drift and trend lower over the next 30 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 2-5 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $690-$740 per ton ($34.50/cwt- $37.00/cwt) with an average of $715 per ton ($35.75/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range decreased by $30 per ton compared to last week and the upper end declined by $10 per ton. Our average is down $20 compared to one week ago. SMU price momentum on cold rolled steel is for prices to drift and trend lower over the next 30 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-9 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $34.50/cwt-$37.50/cwt ($690-$750 per ton) with an average of $36.00/cwt ($720 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range decreased by $10 per ton compared to last week while the upper end remained the same. Our average is down $5 per ton compared to last week. SMU anticipates galvanized prices will drift and trend lower over the next 30 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $759-$819 per ton with an average of $789 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-9 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $34.50/cwt-$37.50/cwt ($690-$750 per ton) with an average of $36.00/cwt ($720 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range decreased by $40 per ton compared to last week while the upper end remained the same. Our average is down $20 per ton compared to one week ago. Our expectation is for Galvalume prices to drift and trend lower over the next 30 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $981-$1041 per ton with an average of $1011 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-9 weeks.