Steel Products Prices North America
September 13, 2018
Plate Markets Buck Hot Rolled Trend
Written by John Packard
Both the plate mills and their customers are advising Steel Market Update that, unlike the hot rolled markets, the plate markets are hot and are expected to continue to be hot for some time to come. The plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (allocation) and all of the mills are struggling to deliver orders on time. Demand is strong and most of the plate end markets are firing on all cylinders: energy, rail cars, heavy equipment, transportation, barges and ships.
The higher prices are not driving buyers out of the market. Demand for plate is driving buyers into the market and keeping prices high. We learned that a number of large energy projects using hundreds of thousands of tons of plate have placed orders over the past few months. This includes the Gray Oak Pipeline (and related storage facilities), as well as a recent Kinder Morgan $2 billion pipeline project transporting natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast and Mexican markets.
