Market Alert

 03/16/21 Market Alert – Industrial Commodities / Domestic Weld

Industrial commodities remain at all-time highs.  Steel industry analysts continue to push out the forecasted “peak” of steel prices.  Currently, spot market hot rolled coil (“HRC”), used to make steel welded pipe, is 26% higher than the previous all-time high of 1070/ton set in 2008.

While steelmakers point to increased demand as the primary driver of this escalation, raw materials such as iron ore and scrap are at 10-year highs.  What’s more, in some cases, seamless A106 pipe is priced lower than A53B ERW welded pipe.  Because of this fact, we expect to see a sharp increase in A106 seamless pipe followed by a 7-10% increase in domestic weld fittings, which are made from seamless pipe.

COMEX Copper Price:

Hot Rolled Coil Pricing Timeline: