Steel Products Prices North America
July 16, 2017
Comparison Price Indices: Another Mixed Week
Written by John Packard
Flat rolled prices were mixed this past week. Early last week we were collecting information from steel buyers who were advising Steel Market Update that steel mill lead times were short and there were still holes in the order books at many of the domestic mills. As the week progressed we found, especially after the Trump comments on tariffs and quotas, the mills as being more committed to keeping prices firm.
Benchmark hot rolled had a very narrow range on the three indices followed by SMU who all reported last week. SMU had our index average as unchanged at $610 per ton ($30.50/cwt) while Platts took their numbers up twice during the week and ending at $615 per ton. SteelBenchmarker reported hot rolled steel prices last week as they do only twice during the month. The SteelBenchmarker HRC average was up $3 per ton to $610 per ton.
