SMU Price Momentum Indicator: Price Pressures Continue

It has now been five weeks (October 28th) since AK Steel became the first domestic steel mill to announce a price increase on flat rolled steel. The relatively modest $20 per ton move was, in many steel buyers’ opinions, meant to stem the decline in steel prices. At that point in time benchmark hot rolled was averaging $630 per ton based on the SMU HRC average price. Since that time, HRC has moved between $635 and $630 per ton and as of last week our average was holding at $630 per ton.

This week we are seeing some weakness in the numbers as the upper portion of our range is shrinking on many products and we have seen a number of “special” offers on hot rolled for tonnage buyers. Our new range on HRC is $600 to $640 per ton with an average of $620 per ton ($31.00/cwt).