Final Thoughts
December 6, 2019
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
On Friday, SSAB announced another plate price increase. Plate buyers were putting the new “aim to” base price around $700 per ton. Plate prices have been stubborn to move higher. SMU will watch momentum carefully this week to see if prices have finally turned the corner. This weekend I am in New Orleans attending HARDI’s annual conference. I spoke to the sheet metal council this morning about the market and risks that the wholesalers need to consider.
One item I discussed was the spread between hot rolled base pricing and that of galvanized steel. The current spread based on our indices is $190 per ton–well above the historical norms of $100-$140 per ton. We saw huge spreads in the recent past only to have them crash to under $100 per ton.
