Steel Products Prices North America
December 16, 2014
SMU Price Ranges & Indices: HR Moves Closer to Breaking Through $600
Written by John Packard
We saw prices slipping in hot rolled and cold rolled steels over the past seven days. We are seeing offers on benchmark hot rolled below the $600 per ton level. One service center who is usually a coated only buyer told SMU that they purchased a small amount of hot rolled and they had offers at $600 and $610 per ton.
A service center commented to Steel Market Update in a phone conversation earlier this week, “There is desperation at the mills, especially on hot rolled. This has caused the market to deteriorate pretty badly over the past week.” He went on to point out a number of mills who are looking for orders – both fully integrated and mini-mills. Perhaps one of the most telling comments this executive of a Midwest-based service center told us was regarding his inventories, which have risen above 3 months for the first time since 2009.
