Steel Products Prices North America

Comparison Price Indices: Directionless Market?

November 12, 2017

Flat rolled prices were mixed this past week with benchmark hot rolled dropping some of its recent gains. The spread between Steel Market Update (SMU) and Platts on cold rolled shrunk compared to what we reported one week ago. Coated products were mixed with galvanized steel remaining at prior-week levels and Galvalume increasing by $10 per ton. Steel plate prices saw minimal gains.

Benchmark hot rolled coil dropped to $600 per ton (-$5/per ton) on SMU’s index and was down $7 per ton on Platts to $613 per ton (round up from $612.50). SteelBenchmarker did not report prices this past week.

Cold rolled was up $5, according to SMU, to $785 per ton, while Platts saw the product as being down $9 per ton to $797 per ton (rounded up from their reported $796.75 on Saturday).

Benchmark .060” G90 galvanized was unchanged at $848 per ton, while .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Galvalume was up $10 to $1,091 on the SMU index.

Plate prices, which have been trailing the market, were seen as the same as hot rolled by Platts (FOB SE Mill), while SMU delivered prices averaged $635 per ton, up $5 for the week.

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.

Plate price FOB points are different for each of the indexes:

SMU: FOB Delivered to the Customer (includes freight)
Platts: FOB Southeastern Mill (does not include freight)

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 The weeks where they do not produce numbers (NA = not available), we will not include their outdated numbers in the CPI average.