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    Steel Mills

    February 24, 2021

    CSI Closes May Flat-Rolled Order Book

    Written by Michael Cowden

    California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its May order booked for flat-rolled steel just a week after opening it.

    “We want to thank you for your continued support during these difficult times. … We will contact you when we open the Flat Rolled order book for June,” CSI said in a Feb. 23 letter to customers.

    The West Coast slab converter quietly increased prices, as did other U.S. mills, when it opened its May flat-rolled book on Feb. 16.CSI

    Partly as a result of those efforts, Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price continues to trek upward. But the pace of increases has moderated.

    SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,210 per ton ($60.50/cwt), up $10 per ton from a week ago. Early January, in contrast, saw week-over-week gains of as much as $50-70 per ton.

    CSI, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles in Fontana, Calif., makes hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized products as well as welded pipe.

    The company is a 50-50 joint venture between Brazilian iron ore miner Vale and Japanese steelmaker JFE.

    By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

    Michael Cowden

    Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He has since 2014 specialized in flat-rolled steel but has previously reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago - where he was involved in launching AMM's daily hot-rolled coil index, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

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