Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges & Indices: It's a Roller Coaster Ride

December 4, 2018

Flat rolled steel prices seem to be on a bit of an extra rollercoaster ride as the domestic mills fill out any holes in their order book for December and book new orders for January and February. Over the past few weeks, Steel Market Update has managed to collect some very low data points on flat rolled products (low $700’s on hot rolled, low $800’s on cold rolled and as low as $800 per ton on galvanized). Our flat rolled averages continue to drop as we take these in-and-out shots by product into consideration. This also affects our spreads (low to high) on each of the flat rolled products.

Plate products continue to weather the storm seen on the flat rolled side. Lead times and the negotiation posture of the plate mills continue to be intact. Our spot price average on plate remained the same this week as last.

Here is how we see prices this week:

Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $730-$800 per ton ($36.50/cwt-$40.00/cwt) with an average of $765 per ton ($38.25/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range fell $30 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end declined $10 per ton. Our overall average is down $20 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: 3-5 weeks

Cold Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $840-$920 per ton ($42.00/cwt-$46.00/cwt) with an average of $880 per ton ($44.00/cwt) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range decreased $30 compared to last week, while the upper end rose $20 per ton. Our overall average declined $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: 4-7 weeks

Galvanized Coil: SMU base price range is $40.00/cwt-$45.00/cwt ($800-$900 per ton) with an average of $42.50/cwt ($850 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range fell $50 per ton compared to one week ago, while the upper end declined $10 per ton. Our overall average is down $30 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 $878-$978 per net ton with an average of $928 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvanized Lead Times: 5-8 weeks

Galvalume Coil: SMU base price range is $42.50/cwt-$45.00/cwt ($850-$900 per ton) with an average of $43.75/cwt ($875 per ton) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range declined $20 per ton compared to last week. Our overall average is down $20 per ton over 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 $1,141-$1,191 per net ton with an average of $1,166 per ton FOB mill, east of the Rockies.

Galvalume Lead Times: 4-9 weeks

Plate: SMU price range is $980-$1,040 per ton ($49.00/cwt-$52.00/cwt) with an average of $1,010 per ton ($50.50/cwt) FOB delivered to the customer’s facility. Both the lower and upper ends of our range remained the same compared to one week ago. Our overall average is also unchanged compared to last week. Our price momentum on plate steel is Neutral meaning we expect stable prices over the next 30 days. The domestic plate mills continue to be on controlled order entry as their order books are strong with limited spot plate tonnage available.

Plate Lead Times: 5-9 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.