• Skip to main content

    Prices

    February 24, 2022

    Hot Rolled Steel Futures – Opposing Forces

    Editor’s note: SMU contributor Bryan Tice is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and the firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. Before joining Metal Edge Partners, Bryan held a variety of commercial leadership roles involving purchasing, sales, and risk management for Feralloy Corporation, Cargill Steel Service Centers and Plateplus Inc. You can learn more about Metal Edge at www.metaledgepartners.com. Bryan can be reached at Bryan@metaledgepartners.com.

    It seems the worst-case scenarios discussed for weeks have now unfolded in dramatic fashion in the Ukraine with the overnight invasion by Russia.   Markets have been roiled by volatility leading up to this point and today was no exception with massive intra-day swings in equity indices, but ultimately ending up positive on the day. The tone of news broadcasts today felt different and much more ominous than I can recently recall as the world digests the implications of Russian aggression and the impacts of global escalation.

    Latest in Prices

    Plate supply squeeze tightens as demand presses higher

    The domestic plate market is showing few signs of relief for steel buyers. Lead times are stretching well beyond seasonal norms, spot availability has all but evaporated, and mills are drawing hard lines on contract volumes heading into 2027 negotiations. And the supply squeeze will likely intensify in a market that some industry sources say is structurally undersupplied because of stringent US trade and tariff policies. Imports have been arriving in larger volumes, and the expectation is they will continue to tick higher into 2027. The big question is whether those foreign tons will arrive in volumes sufficient to provide the relief steel consumers want.