In early May,
US domestic
plate producers were successful in passing on a $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) price increase to customers after upticks in
US scrap prices made their way into the market. Now, however, since scrap has started to soften, some are wondering if it’s just a matter of time before
plate transactions follow that trend. On the other hand, order activity is strong, and lead times continue to span out beyond eight weeks, which means
US plate mills might be able to keep a firm grip on prices regardless of upstream factors. For now, the most commonly reported spot price transaction range has held steady since our last report two weeks ago, still at $42.00-$43.00 cwt. ($926-$948/mt or $840-$860/nt) ex-Midwest mill.
Meanwhile, offshore prices from both
Turkey and
Russia have also trended sideways since our last report, coming in at $34.00-$35.00 cwt. ($750-$772/mt or $680-$700/nt) and $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($728-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt), respectively, both DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf ports, with inquiries and order activity holding at stable.