Final Thoughts

US plate prices have been largely stable since the beginning of December after tags fell by $140 per ton following Nucor’s price cut notice at the end of November with the opening of it January order book. A move that caught many by surprise at the time. But since then, plate prices have varied by just $10 per ton on average from week to week.

SMU’s most recent check of the market on Tuesday, Jan. 31, placed plate prices between $1,400-1,480 per ton with an average of $1,440 per ton FOB mill east of the Rockies – down $10 per ton week-on-week (WoW), according to our interactive pricing tool. (See also Figure 1.)

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.