Price trends for cold-rolled and coated flat-rolled steel in the United States are mixed on divergent market outlooks.
While some industry sources think prices for value-added products will shoot higher with hot-rolled coil tags, others said gains could be less pronounced because there is more import competition on the cold-rolled and galvanized fronts than in the hot band arena.American Metal Market's price assessment for cold-rolled coil in the meantime stands at $50.50 per hundredweight, up 1% from $50 per cwt previously.Cold-rolled prices are also up 26.3% from $40 per cwt a year ago and are at their highest point since hitting $51.50 per cwt in mid-October 2008, nearly a decade ago.Lead times are in a wide...