Steel Prices
SMU price ranges: Most products tick lower on election week
Written by Brett Linton
November 5, 2024
SMU price indices edged lower this week for all products but one, marking the fifth consecutive week of overall declining prices.
Hot rolled and coated sheet prices remain near multi-month lows. Our hot-rolled sheet index eased to an 11-week low of $680 per short ton (st) this week. Coated prices have now fallen beneath the previous 2024 lows seen earlier in July. The last time galvanized ($865/st) or Galvalume ($885/st) prices were this low was the first week of October in 2023.
The only product to increase this week was cold-rolled sheet, increasing $15/st week over week (w/w) to a three-week high of $930/st.
Plate prices continue to drop following their mid-2022 peak. They declined for the sixth week in a row to $880/st this week. The last time plate prices were cheaper than those today was the last week of 2020 (nearly four years ago!).
Our sources continue to say they’ve felt little to no impact from the recently announced mill price increases. We wait to see what effect that, or the election, could have on the steel market.
SMU’s price momentum indicator remains at neutral for both sheet and plate products, following our Oct. 28 adjustment. (Note the new column added to the right of Table 1 indicating our price momentum by product).
Hot-rolled coil
The SMU price range is $640-720/st, averaging $680/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range is unchanged w/w, while the top end is down $10/st w/w. Our overall average is down $5/st w/w. Our price momentum indicator for hot-rolled steel remains at neutral, meaning we see no clear direction for prices over the next 30 days.
Hot rolled lead times range from 3-6 weeks, averaging 4.6 weeks as of our Oct. 23 market survey. We will report updated lead times in our Thursday newsletter.
Cold-rolled coil
The SMU price range is $900–960/st, averaging $930/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range is up $20/st w/w, while the top end is up $10/st w/w. Our overall average is up $15/st w/w. Our price momentum indicator for cold-rolled steel remains at neutral, meaning we see no clear direction for prices over the next 30 days.
Cold rolled lead times range from 5-9 weeks, averaging 6.4 weeks through our latest survey.
Galvanized coil
The SMU price range is $820–910/st, averaging $865/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. The lower end of our range is down $20/st w/w, while the top end is up $10/st w/w. Our overall average is down $5/st w/w. Our price momentum indicator for galvanized steel remains at neutral, meaning we see no clear direction for prices over the next 30 days.
Galvanized .060” G90 benchmark: SMU price range is $917–1,007/st, averaging $962/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvanized lead times range from 5-8 weeks, averaging 6.7 weeks through our latest survey.
Galvalume coil
The SMU price range is $840–930/st, averaging $885/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies. Both the lower and upper ends of our range are down $20/st w/w. Our overall average is down $20/st w/w. Our price momentum indicator for Galvalume steel remains at neutral, meaning we see no clear direction for prices over the next 30 days.
Galvalume .0142” AZ50, grade 80 benchmark: SMU price range is $1,134–1,224/st, averaging $1,179/st FOB mill, east of the Rockies.
Galvalume lead times range from 6-7 weeks, averaging 6.8 weeks through our latest survey.
Plate
The SMU price range is $840–920/st, averaging $880/st FOB mill. The lower end of our range is unchanged w/w, while the top end is down $30/st w/w. Our overall average is down $15/st w/w. Our price momentum indicator for plate remains at neutral, meaning we see no clear direction for prices over the next 30 days.
Plate lead times range from 2-6 weeks, averaging 4.0 weeks through our latest survey.
SMU note: Above is a graphic showing our hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume, and plate price history. This data is also available here on our website with our interactive pricing tool. If you need help navigating the website or need to know your login information, contact us at info@steelmarketupdate.com.
Brett Linton
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