Steel Products Prices North America
Slab Imports Pushing March Import Trend Higher
Written by John Packard
March 22, 2016
The U.S. Department of Commerce released new foreign steel import license request for the month of March 2016. Based on data through the 22nd of the month imports are trending higher than the past two months. At this point, SMU believes imports for March will settle somewhere around 2.6 to 2.8 million net tons.
If you are about to panic we would recommend that you relax as the biggest bump is in semi-finished (slabs) which are the steel mills reacting to stronger order books. As you can see by the table below, semi-finished imports are trending up by 300,000 tons. At the same time hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized are trending less than their three month and twelve month moving averages…
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
SMU Price Ranges: HR slips, hopes for Q4 rebound still standing
SMU’s price ranges were mixed again this week as the market continues to seek a floor amid industry hopes for a Q4 rebound.
Nucor’s hot band list price holds at $875/ton
Nucor held its hot-rolled coil list price flat again this week, according to its Monday, Sept. 15 consumer spot price (CSP) notice.
Market says cutting interest rates will spur stalled domestic plate demand
Market sources say demand for domestic plate refuses to budge despite stagnating prices.
SMU Price Ranges: Some predict bottom is near as big discounts dry up
Sheet prices were mixed this week as some mills continued to offer significant discounts to larger buyers while others have shifted toward being more disciplined, market participants said.
SMU Price Ranges: Tags mixed as uncertainty weighs on market
SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price held steady this week while prices for other sheet and plate products declined.