Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States leaped after buyer competition for the mills' limited first-quarter spot tonnage became fierce.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US climbed to $63 per hundredweight ($1,260 per hundredweight) on Thursday January 14, up by 7.69% from $58.50 per cwt ($1,170 per ton) on January 7. The assessment has now more than doubled since dropping to its 2020 low of $31 per cwt in August.The new level for cold roll marks an all-time high since Fastmarkets began assessing this price in 1987, surpassing the previous peak of $61.25 per cwt in May 2008.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil (cold-rolled base), fob mill US increased to $63 per cwt on Thursday from $59 per cwt ($1,180 per ton) a week earlier. The assessment is now up for the 23rd week in a row, also more than doubling since its August low of $31 per cwt. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil (hot-rolled base), fob mill US similarly...