Domestic plate producers have kept prices stable since the last announced price increase over a month ago, and prices are expected to stay in this range until at least the end of July.
The four major U.S. plate producers - Nucor Corp., Arcelor Mittal Steel USA, Ipsco, and Claymont Steel - have all held prices steady at a range of $43.00 cwt. to $44.00 cwt. ($948 /mt to $970 /mt or $860 /nt to $880 /nt) for commercial grades A36 base sizes coiled and cut to length plate. Market sources suspect these prices will remain stable for at least the next few months.
The US plate market is tight, with lead times extended to several months. Demand is steady, as end-use markets such as railroad tank cars, bridge fabrication, and shipbuilding remain strong. The energy market, which is expected to be strong for quite a few years, is another main factor contributing to the strength of the US plate market.
US service center plate inventories are a little on the high side despite the booming business; however, business activity remains steady.
Arcelor Mittal Steel USA is restarting its idled plate mill in Gary, IN to keep up with the increasing domestic demand for plate. Arcelor Mittal Plate USA's CEO Shelby Pixley commented, "The reopening of the Gary mill would allow Arcelor Mittal to meet the increasing demands of the energy market, which is forecasted to be strong for the next several years. Largely due to the strength of this market, plate demand has grown significantly for large-diameter line pipe, wind towers, transmission towers, and tank cars."
Global steel plate demand is continually growing as well due to the increasing strength in the construction, machinery, and shipbuilding markets, and Mittal also plans to take advantage of this by participating in the export market. The mill is expected to be running by September 2007.
Import arrivals are far out with shipments expected in the late third and early fourth quarter. Besides Canada, the United States' largest import plate sources, Russia, Malaysia, and Thailand, have been shipping the majority of plate imports to the US. Some plate shipments are now arriving, priced at around $36.00 cwt. ($794 /mt or $720 /nt), but market sources say those numbers are not available anymore since import prices have gone up. More realistic import offers from Asian markets to the US are in the range of $39.00 cwt. to $40.00 cwt. ($859 /mt to $882 /mt or $780 /nt to $800 /nt) FOB Gulf Coast.
China, although not a major exporter of plate to the US, due to past trade restrictions, may find itself receiving even less orders as its Ministry of Finance has imposed a five percent export tax on plate products in hopes to further reduce exports of high energy-consuming and highly polluting products. Still, China is a major producer and exporter of plate products, and this move will increase Chinese export prices to traders for other markets. The peripheral effects of the Chinese export tax may still be felt in the North American import plate market on plate products from other origins.
The three major exporters of cut to length plates to the US in May were as follows: Canada with 24,262 mt, Thailand with 23,885 mt, and Malaysia with 15,269 mt. For plates in coils, the three major exporters to the US were: Canada with 37,146 mt, Russia with 13,890 mt, and the Netherlands with 8,606 mt. (License data provided by the United States Import Administration.)