Steel Mills
CSI Opens June Flat-Rolled Books, Increases Prices
Written by Michael Cowden
March 17, 2021
California Steel Industries (CSI) has opened its June flat rolled orderbook, and the West Coast slab converter has also increased prices by as much as $90 per ton ($4.50/cwt), according to market participants.
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that CSI’s June flat rolled orderbook is now open,” the company said in a letter to customers on Wednesday, March 17.
The letter did not specify an increase. But sources said CSI had offered them hot-rolled coil at $1,330 per ton, up from $1,240 per ton previously.
The increase could put CSI on par with mills east of the Rocky Mountains, some of which are offering hot band for as much as $1,340 per ton. And several sources think that prices east of the Rockies could go higher still when other domestic producers re-open their orderbooks.
U.S. hot-rolled coil prices, meanwhile, are already at all-time highs.
Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,300 per ton, up nearly 32% from $985 per ton at the beginning of the year and nearly triple an August low of $440 per ton.
SMU’s prior high was $1,070 per ton in July 2008. That’s $1279.41 per ton when adjusted for inflation, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.
CSI, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles in Fontana, Calif., has the capability to make hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized products as well as welded pipe.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
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