Plate prices in the United States have fallen again, but sources questioned whether the decline was due to similar declines in hot-rolled coil prices or to plate market fundamentals.
Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for domestic cut-to-length plate dropped to $38.50 per hundredweight ($770 per short ton) on Friday June 21, down by 2.5% from $39.50 per cwt ($790 per ton) a week earlier and its lowest since early February 2018.Sources have continued to report short lead times - averaging three weeks - for plate, indicating that supply availability at mills remains high.Prices for hot-rolled coil - a leading indicator for the overall steel market - have been dropping significantly in the past few weeks,...