Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) Price Index Up Second Straight Month

Grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) prices increased again for the month of August — the second straight month of upward movement — putting August’s GOES MMI® value at 259, a 2.4 percent increase.

GOES coil prices increased 2.3 percent on our MetalMiner IndX℠. Comparatively, July’s GOES index value stood at 253, an increase from 250 in June.

What’s Driving the GOES Price?

“Grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) prices bucked the trend of a falling stainless market by rising 2.3 percent this month on the back of rising construction spend and hot rolled coil pricing, which has just started to increase again,” said Lisa Reisman, managing editor of MetalMiner.

HRC prices still display a positive forward curve, and US HRC prices in August have been 4.6 percent higher on average over July prices, according to MetalMiner IndX℠ data.

“Also, Reed Construction Data’s total construction spending forecast has improved from last month which we take as a positive sign, despite slightly falling power construction spend numbers,” Reisman noted.

According to Reed’s latest analysis, assuming no recession, the forecast is for total construction spending to increase 8.1 percent in 2012, and 7.4 percent in 2013. Total seasonally adjusted US power construction spending, meanwhile, dropped from May to June by 3.1 percent, according to the US Census Bureau.

Incongruously, the GOES price increase appears to be at odds with falling US GOES surcharges (down 30 percent in August from March’s figure) and falling stainless steel surcharges (dropping across the board for the last six months, based on averages for representative sample of surcharges from February 2012 to August 2012, according to MetalMiner IndX℠ data).

However, those trends were not enough to overcome solidifying HRC prices and expectations of brighter construction outlooks.

Check back the same time next month for September’s GOES MMI® report.