Prices of steel plate and structural beams are expected to increase in coming months because of 4.5% growth in a key market segment, nonresidential construction.

Plate has slipped from the $750 range to the $680 region because of slowing demand from machinery manufacturing markets. However, the still-healthy nonresidential and infrastructure construction market segments have kept supplies of structural steel beams somewhat tight recently and, as a result, prices have shown some strength in the $740–760 region.

Steel plate is an insignificant input for residential construction, so the weakness there will cause only minimal disruption to demand. Indeed, demand for plate steel is now the strongest for any type of carbon steel on the market, and this should not change anytime soon. So, analyst Armine Thompson at Global Insight forecasts steel plate "should stay within the $700–775/ton range well into the first quarter of 2009."

She points out that producers are walking a tightrope in terms of prices, though, "as $800/ton becomes prohibitive, but prices below $700 spurs buying activity." The spot price for coiled plate from hot-strip mills was just under $730 in the second quarter, dropping to $705 this quarter. Purchasingdata.com's latest forecast is less bullish at the strong end, suggesting a $700–760 range in the same timeframe.