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:
