US domestic plate prices flat in apprehensive market_ sources
Published by: Melissa VanDervort<>
11 Mar 2025 @ 21:44 UTC
Domestic plate prices in the US remained steady on Tuesday March 11, with sources reporting pervasive uncertainty plaguing the market with ongoing tariff issues amid a looming trade war among the US, Canada and Mexico.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was $60 per hundredweight ($1,200 per short ton) on Tuesday, flat from March 4 and up 13.21% from $53 per cwt on February 25.
Inputs were collected in a range of $55-64 per cwt, representing offers and assessments of the general market.
Plate prices have skyrocketed in the past three weeks — up 33.3% from $45 per cwt on February 18 — with many buyers firm on the sidelines amid widespread market uncertainty, as an imminent trade war ramps up among the US, Canada and Mexico, sources said.
A distributor said they expect more mill price increases to follow in the near term, predicting that plate prices will rise incrementally throughout March and April and will continue that pattern throughout the second half of 2025.
We believe the [plate] pricing will continue into the mid-$60s [per cwt] in the next month, the distributor said.
Market participants said they expect plate demand to continue its upward trajectory in line with prices trickling up in the near term.
We expected increases in plate demand after the [US presidential] election, but not this much pricing volatility [in the plate market], a buyer said. Plate demand has increased, with construction being the biggest mover [in the market]. It’s affecting the mills and [keeping them from] quoting too far out as they try and get
A second distributor said the plate market is in a tailspin, hamstrung by widespread uncertainty in the plate and general construction markets surrounding the ongoing tariff saga between the US, Canada and Mexico.
I’m hearing from all [major domestic] mills that the tariffs have already had a bad effect on them, [and] they are really worried, the second distributor said. Canada is dead to US buyers [right now].
Lead times have extended to four to six weeks, according to sources.