Final Thoughts
July 8, 2021
Final Thoughts
Written by Tim Triplett
You may be tired of reading about it, but there is no ignoring the question: When will hot rolled coil prices finally peak? So many livelihoods depend on the answer. Unfortunately, Steel Market Update survey data clearly shows that no one knows.
Roughly one-third of those polled this week believe steel prices will have peaked by the time they hit $1,800 per ton—just $30 from the current SMU price of $1,770—which could happen as soon as this month. About half see the peak somewhere between $1,850-$1,950 per ton. The remaining 16% envision hot rolled prices reaching an astounding $2,000 per ton or more before finally beginning to correct to more reasonable levels sometime late this year or perhaps not until 2022.
