Industry News

What is the trend for steel prices?

May 9, 2022

Following a year in which steel prices hit historic highs and experienced unprecedented circumstances, signs were pointing to a revert to normal pricing in early 2022.

But something happened on the way to lower carbon steel prices. The price of hot-rolled carbon kicked off 2022 with declines from historic highs over the past 12-18 months. But then came March.

That month, prices experienced their largest month-over-month increase in history. This was the result of a combination of improved demand conditions and rising raw material cost. For instance, the cost of scrap has gone has gone higher across the board.

The Logistics Impact

Those dreaded port and freight challenges that plagued the market for much of 2021 haven’t quite left the party in the new year. Elizabeth Efta, Ryerson’s director of logistics explains:

"The flatbed market continues to be stagnant with spot rates basically flat for the last quarter. so the uptick in tightening flatbed capacity (load to truck ratio) at the end of the year is expected remain through the first quarter."

She says there is an expectation that prices could remain high, but flat. Also, once construction starts to pick-up in early Q2, there could be upward price pressure unless more capacity comes online.