Steel Products Prices North America

Comparison Price Indices: Large Dips in Pricing

Written by John Packard

May 30, 2017

Flat rolled steel prices dropped last week as all three of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update (SMU) reported lower pricing.

Benchmark hot rolled prices dropped by double digits last week with SMU and Platts at $595 per ton as the week ended and SteelBenchmarker dropping $12 per ton to $611 per ton. The average of the three indexes is now $600 per ton ($30.00/cwt).

Cold rolled prices took large dips on SMU and Platts with SMU ending the week at $780 per ton, Platts at $795 per ton and SteelBenchmarker was down $2 to $795 per ton.

SMU saw galvanized .060” G90 down $30 per ton last week and Galvalume was down $20 per ton for .0142” AZ50, Grade 80.

Plate prices remained the same at SMU ($740 per ton delivered) and Platts ($730 per ton FOB Southeastern USA Mill) while SteelBenchmarker rose $12 per ton to $746 per ton.

A reminder that our plate pricing is referencing an average price delivered to the customer.

SMU Note: Galvanized prices include $78 in extras for a .060″ G90 product. Galvalume prices include $291 in extras for a .0142” AZ50 Grade 80 product.

FOB points for each index:

SMU: Domestic Mill, East of the Rockies.
SteelBenchmarker: Domestic Mill, East of the Mississippi.
Platts: Northern Indiana Domestic Mill.

Note that SteelBenchmarker produces numbers twice per month. On the weeks they produce numbers we will include them in the average. The weeks where they do not produce numbers (NA = not available) we will not include their outdated numbers in the CPI average.

John Packard

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