SMU Price Ranges & Indices: A Firming Bottom of the Range

Foreign steel and foreign offers continue to be a concern. In one conversation earlier today with an end user we were advised that the September Galvalume price offers were lower than those seen for August. We also continue to see Chinese cold rolled offers at, or slightly above what domestic hot rolled is being offered. We were told today that 16 gauge cold rolled was being offered into the West Coast at numbers below $480 per ton.

One large service center told us this afternoon that the domestic mills are being cautious and not pushing prices too hard or too fast. The service centers still have inventory that needs to be worked down.

With that we have found the bottom of the range that existed just a few weeks ago have pretty much dried up. Bookings are stronger and the mills appear to be confident that they will be able to hold the new price levels. Where we have seen some resistance is at the top level and we heard stories of at least one mill who had tried to get even higher prices than the other mills as having pulled back to the levels of that competition.

Here is how we see spot flat rolled prices this week (all prices shown are in net tons which are equal to 2,000 pounds):

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $450-$480 per net ton ($22.50/cwt- $24.00/cwt) with an average of $465 per ton ($23.25/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased $20 per ton compared to last week while the upper end of our range was unchanged. Our average is now $10 per ton higher compared to one week ago. SMU price momentum for hot rolled steel is for prices to trend slowly higher over the next 30 to 60 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 2-5 weeks.

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $560-$600 per net ton ($28.00/cwt- $30.00/cwt) with an average of $580 per ton ($29.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range increased $20 per ton compared to one week ago while the upper end remained the same. Our average is up $10 per ton compared to last week. We continue to believe that price momentum on cold rolled steel is for prices to slowly move higher over the next 30 to 60 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 3-7 weeks.

Galvanized Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $27.50/cwt-$29.50/cwt ($550-$590 per net ton) with an average of $28.50/cwt ($570 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range remained the same compared to last week while the upper end declined by $10 per ton. Our average is now $5 lower compared to one week ago. SMU anticipates galvanized prices to move slowly higher over the next 30 to 60 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU Range is $619-$659 per net ton with an average of $639 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 4-10 weeks.

Galvalume Coil: SMU Base Price Range is $28.00/cwt-30.00/cwt ($560-$600 per net ton) with an average of $29.00/cwt ($580 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower end of our range declined $10 per ton compared to one week ago. Our average is now $10 less than last week. Our expectation is for Galvalume prices to slowly move higher over the next 30 to 60 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU Range is $851-$891 per net ton with an average of $871 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 5-8 weeks.

SMU Note: Below is an interactive graphic showing our hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, and Galvalume price history. You can only view this interactive graphic when you are logged into the website and reading the newsletter there. If you need help navigating the website or need to know your login information, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by calling 800-432-3475.

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