US plate market prices have moved up once again since Nucor's $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) price increase announcement earlier this week. And although demand continues to remain sluggish as there isn't much going on in terms of commercial construction, plate prices, along with offers for other structural products, have continued to rise. Most domestic plate spot transaction prices have increased around $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt) since our last report two weeks ago, with offers now being seen at approximately $40.00 cwt. to $42.00 cwt. ($882/mt to $926/mt or $800/nt to $840/nt), FOB mill. However, for the right sizes and tonnage prices below this range may still be found. Meanwhile, mills are continuing to push for higher prices, in the $42.00 cwt. to $44.00 cwt. ($926/mt to $970/mt or $840/nt to $880/nt) range, FOB mill.
Spot prices are expected to continue their rise as scrap remains in short supply and HRC pricing maintains its upward climb. And with stimulus money slowly beginning to trickle into infrastructure projects, the plate market will reap some benefit. While this will equate to more of a nudge as opposed to a solid push for demand, distributors are happy to receive whatever orders they get, especially in that demand for plate in recent months has been a mixed bag. Until market conditions resonate firmly stable, distributors will continue to be cautious with their buys to as to not be left holding high priced steel should mill offers take a sudden dive off what some believe to be an ever-nearing pricing cliff.
On the import side, offshore foreign offers continue to exude silence as the ongoing uncertainty within the domestic market has sustained. Nevertheless, there are some Ukrainian offers being seen at approximately $37.00 cwt. to $38.00 cwt. ($772/mt to $794/mt or $700/nt to $720/nt), duty paid, FOB gulf ports.
License data from the US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) demonstrate that as of March 16, the total import tonnage of cut-to-length plates has increased from 48,807 mt (license data) in February to 55,955 mt thus far in March. While Canadian imports are currently at 7,121 mt, down from 14,252 mt in February, German imports of cut-to-length plates have increased from 20,300 mt in February to 38,217 mt as of March 16.
