Steel Products Prices North America
December 20, 2016
SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Steel Mills Begin Collecting Prices Above Minimums
Written by John Packard
When it comes to coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume) the domestic steel mills are beginning to collect prices above the “minimum” guidance number of $820 per ton ($41.00/cwt). We are seeing some of the mills, including some of the smaller conversion mills, collecting as much as $840 per ton base pricing plus extras ($42.00/cwt). Hot rolled continues to be the weakest flat rolled steel product although the number of $580 offers have all but disappeared for most buyers this week. Our HRC average this week is now $595 as the product continues to consolidate toward the upper end of the range.
Lead times appear to be moving out. We will have more data on that subject on Thursday when we publish our “Lead Time” and “Negotiation” articles from our flat rolled steel market trends analysis we are working on right now. We will try to also compare what we are collecting from buyers and see how it compares with a couple of the domestic mills and what they are publishing to their customers.
