Sheet steel prices fall to 42-month low

Benchmark grade hot-rolled sheet steel prices slipped under $500/ton in February for...

Benchmark grade hot-rolled sheet steel prices slipped under $500/ton in February for the first time in 42 months in a marketplace where neither buyers nor suppliers are sure that the cyclical bottom has been reached. The hot-rolled sheet price average of $499 in February is down 2% from $509 in January and down 53% from the $1,068 peak of last July. At $588, the cold-rolled sheet steel price is down 3% from December’s $607 and 49% below the peak of $1,153.Steel suppliers haven’t seen any meaningful improvement in business activity since the beginning of the year, but believe sheet prices are approaching a bottom. Steel buyers disagree. They see no reason to increase orders for sheet products in the face of continued weakness in commercial construction, appliance manufacturing and consumer good production activity--not to mention the feeble automotive sector--that has automakers and their suppliers operating at lowered rates of capacity utilization.