Final Thoughts
October 10, 2018
Final Thoughts
Written by Tim Triplett
The market has been searching for a bottom and perhaps found it this week as all the major flat rolled mills announced price hikes of $40 per ton on hot rolled, hot rolled P&O, cold rolled and galvanized steel products.
Steel prices have seen a steady decline of around $80 per ton since this summer. The announcements surprised many steel buyers who were expecting the status quo to continue through the end of the year. Given the current market conditions, with demand easing and hot rolled lead times at less than four weeks, many are skeptical the new prices will stick. Most likely the mills will be secretly satisfied if the “increase” simply stops the slide.
