Steel Products Prices North America
May 31, 2016
SMU Price Ranges & Indices: No Momentum Change Seen Yet
Written by John Packard
With the extended weekend in the United States there was very little movement in flat rolled steel prices compared to late last week. Our benchmark hot rolled average remained the same although we did pick up some movement, especially with a tightening of the lower end of the range, on the other flat rolled products.
We spoke with one smaller mill today who told us they were content with base prices in the $41.50/cwt-$42.50/cwt range on coated steel products and did not feel a need to push prices higher. Other mills may be feeling similar sentiments as the price spread between hot rolled and cold rolled/coated is quite dramatic at $200 per ton (+/- $10 per ton). We will need to go back in our history books to see if there was ever a price spread this large.
