Nelson-Farrar Quarterly Costimating: Indexes for finished steels register sizable shifts during 2006-09

July 5, 2010
Nelson-Farrar indexes for finished steels changed drastically during 2006-09. Generally speaking, the alloy steels changed less than carbon steel products.

Nelson-Farrar indexes for finished steels changed drastically during 2006-09. Generally speaking, the alloy steels changed less than carbon steel products.

Alloy bars started the period with an index value of 1,189.1 and peaked at 1,678.0. Alloy sheets stood at index value of 731.9 in early 2006, and at 1,095.0 in mid-2008.

The index for cold-rolled sheets was 1,407.8 during first-quarter 2006 and stood at 2,105.7 during second-quarter 2008. During the same period, structural plates started the 4-year period at an index of 1,674.2, and hit a high of 2,810.7 in third-quarter 2008.

The composite index for steel products varied from 1,421.9 in first-quarter 2006 to 2,287.0 during third-quarter 2008. The composite category includes all steel-mill products. This analysis shows a large fluctuation in the cost of finished steels over the 2006-09 period.