Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized sheet in the United States declined for a fifth straight week after automotive and other factory shutdowns weighed on demand for steel components.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US dropped to $33 per hundredweight ($660 per short ton) on Thursday April 23 from $34 per cwt ($680 per ton) on April 16. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized (base) steel coil, fob mill US also slid to $33 per cwt on Thursday from $34 per cwt a week earlier.Lead times continue contracting to within a month for cold-rolled coil and to between six and seven weeks for most galvanized orders. A rebound in demand for cold roll hinges not only on how successful the North American automakers will prove to be in achieving their stated goal of restarting plants...