Steel Products Prices North America
April 30, 2019
Companies Buying Short, Concerned About Pricing
Written by John Packard
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels with whom Steel Market Update spoke today are concerned about the direction of steel prices, believing prices will continue to fall from here. Many buyers were debating how low prices would go over the next few months. A number have become believers that hot rolled coil will breach $600 per ton ($30.00/cwt).
“Yes, they [steel mills] are willing to negotiate,” one service center executive told us this morning, “and with scrap prices poised to drop $20+/ton in May, this will accelerate. There’s a chance we’ll see a market falling by larger increments than was contemplated even just a few weeks ago. I personally believe we’re heading to the low $600’s with a 40 percent chance we breach below that before summer is over. The only way we don’t is if domestic mills reduce output.”
