Steel Products Prices North America
June 12, 2018
SMU Price Ranges & Indices: Little Change
Written by John Packard
Flat rolled and plate steel prices remained essentially unchanged over the past seven days. As one steel buyer commented to Steel Market Update last week, the steel mills seem to be content at the current price levels and they don’t want to be seen as getting “greedy.” This doesn’t mean they won’t try to get a little higher price when they can. The commercial manager of a steel mill told SMU earlier today about coated product base prices: “[We] won’t take orders below $51 or a bit higher. Let somebody else take the low stuff.” So, for the moment, prices seem to be range-bound. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator is pointing to Higher pricing over the next 30-60 days due to a perceived tightening of supply ahead. However, there are many factors that could impact steel availability. If Canada and Mexico block U.S. steel from going into Canada, there is going to be a lot of steel pushed into the domestic market, and we have two blast furnaces coming up at USS Granite City. Something to think about.
Here is how we see prices this week:
