Plate prices in the United States have inched up following a round of $2-per-hundredweight price increases and despite deep concerns among service centers sources about the staying power of higher prices.
Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for cut-to-length plate stands at $47.50 per hundredweight ($950 per short ton), up 1.1% from $47 per cwt previously but down 3.1% from $49 per cwt at the beginning of the year.Lead times, between four and eight weeks, continue to vary widely among individual mills, market participants said.Where is the demand?The price increases - announced during the first week of March - should gain traction as service centers with lean inventories come back into the market, a Mid-Atlantic service center source said. Demand might be middling and resale prices low but "service centers weren't buying and were still shipping," which means mills could...