Steel Products Prices North America
May 22, 2016
Comparison Price Indices: Variances in Steel Indexes Averages Shrink
Written by John Packard
We tend to see the various steel indexes become more “in tune” with one another once the steel mills decide to take a wait and see attitude about the market. Over the past few weeks, U.S. steel mills have (once again) managed to expand the spread between U.S. steel prices and those of foreign steel both in Europe and Asia. The U.S. dollar has been rising over the past two weeks, commodity prices in China are weakening and the expectation is for scrap prices to roll-over or drop by as much as $20 per ton once the June negotiations begin in earnest.
Benchmark hot rolled coil prices increased by modest amounts on both the SMU and Platts indexes. Steel Market Update saw HRC numbers as up $10 per ton and are now averaging $620 per ton ($31.00/cwt). Platts took their average up $5 per ton to $615 per ton ($30.50/cwt). SteelBenchmarker did not report prices this week.
