Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Another Down Week for Flat Rolled

Written by Brett Linton

September 11, 2018

Flat rolled spot base prices continued to drop over the past week. There are mixed emotions from steel buyers with some believing the weakness being seen is an “overreaction” to a “perceived” weakness in the steel mill order books. Comments were made to Steel Market Update during the data gathering process that weakness is mill specific using Nucor’s galvanized as an example where their book is strong, perhaps being led by some of their downstream businesses. At the same time, we are hearing hot rolled low end prices are from EAF mills and that the integrated mills tend to be at the upper end of the range.

Nonetheless, we picked up lower numbers on all but plate products. Plate continues to be strong as plate mills’ books are full and there is very limited spot tonnage available. We heard from a number of smaller plate service centers who told us there were no spot tons available for them.

Here is how we see prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $820-$880 per ton ($41.00/cwt-$44.00/cwt) with an average of $850 per ton ($42.50/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range declined $10 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end fell $20 per ton. Our overall average is down $15 per ton compared to last week. Our price momentum on hot rolled steel is Lower meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 to 60 days.

Hot Rolled Lead Times: 3-6 weeks

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $940-$990 per ton ($47.00/cwt-$49.50/cwt) with an average of $965 per ton ($48.25/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range remained the same compared to last week, while the upper end fell $10 per ton. Our overall average is down $5 per ton compared to one week ago. Our price momentum on cold rolled steel is Lower meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 to 60 days.

Cold Rolled Lead Times: 5-8 weeks

Galvanized Coil: SMU base price range is $46.00/cwt-$49.50/cwt ($920-$990 per ton) with an average of $47.75/cwt ($955 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range declined $10 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end remained the same. Our overall average is down $5 per ton compared to last week. Our price momentum on galvanized steel is Lower meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 to 60 days.

Galvanized .060” G90 Benchmark: SMU price range is $998-$1,068 per net ton with an average of $1,033 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Note that we have adjusted our .060″ G90 extras from $86 per ton down to $78 per ton to reflect the recent adjustments in mill coating extras.

Galvanized Lead Times: 3-9 weeks

Galvalume Coil: SMU base price range is $48.00/cwt-$50.00/cwt ($960-$1,000 per ton) with an average of $49.00/cwt ($980 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range remained the same compared to last week. Our overall average is unchanged compared to one week ago. Our price momentum on Galvalume steel is Lower meaning we expect prices to decline over the next 30 to 60 days.

Galvalume .0142” AZ50, Grade 80 Benchmark: SMU price range is $1,251-$1,291 per net ton with an average of $1,271 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 6-10 weeks

Plate: SMU price range is $980-$1,030 per ton ($49.00/cwt-$51.50/cwt) with an average of $1,005 per ton ($50.25/cwt) FOB the customer’s facility for orders to be delivered during the month of November. The lower end of our range increased $40 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end rose $20 per ton. Our overall average is up $30 per ton compared to last week. Our price momentum on plate steel is for higher prices once the mills open their October order books. The plate mills are on controlled order entry and are expected to remain that way over the next 30 days or longer.

Plate Lead Times: 5-8 weeks, allocation/controlled order entry

SMU Note: Below is a graphic showing our hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate price history. This data is available here on our website with our interactive pricing tool. Note that plate prices are not yet available on our website, but we are in the process of adding that dataset. If you need help navigating the website or need to know your login information, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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