Prices for domestic and imported steel beams remained unchanged in the United States in March, even as demand faltered and new orders sagged.
With precautions taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 creating delays in the supply chain in some areas, market participants expressed heightened uncertainty about the outlook for this market. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel beams 8 x 8-inch, fob mill US again held at $36.50 per hundredweight ($730 per short ton) on Thursday March 26, unchanged since January 30.At the same time, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel beams medium sections, loaded truck Port of Houston for immediate delivery held at $640-675 per ton flat from February but down by 0.4% at the midpoint from $655-665 per ton in January.For now, businesses have been reporting varying degrees of modestly weaker demand."Our customers are open. Our business is slow to steady. We're not getting a lot of new quotes. We're being...