Steel prices today: rebar, I-beam, angle, channel, sheet, and profile

Why two numbers in this table aren't comparable

The most common mistake in steel pricing is comparing two numbers quoted in different units. Rebar and sheet are usually priced per kilo; I-beam, angle, and channel per branch; and bulk deals close per ton. A six-digit number next to a four-digit one on this page isn't necessarily "more expensive" — one may be the price of a kilo and the other of a 12-metre branch. Read the unit off the section's own page before comparing anything.

• Per kilo: rebar, sheet, most profile and box section — you also need the branch weight to get a total.
• Per branch: I-beam, angle, channel — the price depends on the standard length, usually 6 or 12 metres.
• Per ton: bulk and tender buying — the per-ton rate is almost always below the retail per-kilo rate.
• All three are typically ex-works; freight, loading, and cutting are billed separately.

What moves the price day to day

Steel section prices follow billet and base-sheet rates, passing the same swing into the retail market a day or several later. That's why a quote you took a week ago is not valid for closing a tender bid. The second variable is the producing mill: for one and the same rebar size, the spread between mills is real and material. The third is standard and alloy — A2 and A3 rebar are two different goods with two different prices, not two names for one thing.

To understand why one price counts as current and another doesn't, see current price vs stale price. In a market that moves daily, the date on a price matters as much as the price.

Pricing steel for a tender or project

In a tender list the steel section usually runs to dozens of lines, and it's the part that eats the most time. The order of operations: pin down each line's unit, then get today's price with a source and a date, then add delivered freight. For working a whole list at once, see bulk price inquiry from an Excel file and pricing materials for construction tenders.