Steel plate prices in the United States were unchanged for the third week in a row, with sources disagreeing on whether the market has plateaued or reached a bottom.
Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was flat at $26 per hundredweight ($520 per short ton) on Friday July 24, unchanged since July 6. The price is down 26.8% from one year ago and is at its lowest level since 2016."Plate has hit a bottom," a Southern distributor said. "Prices have been a little more firm in the last two to three weeks. I don't think they're going a whole lot lower - I don't think they can." Others, however, were not convinced...