Spot prices in the domestic cut-to-length plate market remain unchanged from previously reported levels, although more increases are expected in the not-so-distant future.
The most recent $2.00-$3.00 cwt. ($44-$55/mt or $40-$50/nt) price increase in late November for domestic cut-to-length plate was quickly accepted in the market, and coupled with rising raw material costs and surging prices in other product lines, additional increases are expected in the coming weeks. One Southeast distributor forecasted that the looming announcements are "simply an attempt to catch up to increases for other products...there's no reason not to try right now."
Although spot prices are still $42.00-$44.00 cwt. ($926-$970/mt or $840-$880/nt) ex-Midwest mill, transactions on the lower end have decreased significantly, and smaller Southern service centers that had been opting to bypass the mill entirely and purchase instead from large distribution centers noted that "those prices have gone up too," and the difference between prices at the mill versus at larger service centers is rapidly shrinking. That said, overall demand levels have not picked up, and most buying has been an attempt to build inventory before additional increases are announced.
Furthermore, asking prices from mills have been on the rise, and a number of mills have quoted between $45.00-$48.00 cwt. ($992-$1,058/mt or $900-$960/nt) to buyers of specialty, or difficult to find items. Nonetheless, despite some buying activity above current spot prices, bookings below $42.00 cwt. from mills attempting to rid themselves of excess product by year's end appear to be still available for select buyers, as the market is still not strong enough not to make deals to keep, and increase, market share.
Sources indicate that some mills have taken fairly large orders in the past one-to-two weeks, and as a result, lead times continue to extend outward as a few major mills have already closed December and January order books entirely, and report delivery dates into early March. The vast majority of lead times for standard product however are still in late January to late February.
On the import inventory side, preliminary license data from the US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) demonstrate that total import tonnage of cut-to-length plate remains steady, as 50,344 mt were imported in November, up 2.7 percent over the 48,911 mt of imports in October.