US plate prices moved slightly lower throughout the week, settling Friday $7/st lower than the prior week. The daily Platts TSI US plate index dropped by $3/st to $573/st on a delivered Midwest basis. Plate prices have been less volatile than hot-rolled coil prices during the coronavirus pandemic. As automotive shutdowns and collapsing oil prices have evaporated HRC demand and forced major supply cuts, prices have plummeted and now are rebounding. Plate, a noticeably smaller market segment, has felt the impacts of demand cuts and seen prices drop by almost 10% since March’s peak. However, the drop has been significantly smaller than the 22% drop in HRC prices from mid-March peak to a recent floor of $460/st last week.
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