LONDON and PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

CRU's North American and European hot-rolled coil marginal and average cost indices are now exclusively available to CRU steel price indices data providers.

Dr Paul Butterworth, Research Manager for CRU steel raw materials and steel costs commented on this development, "The cost indices represent movements in steel production costs for HRC based on the latest information on regional raw material, energy and labour input costs, local crude steel production and market dynamics.  They also take into account estimations of capacity utilization and profitability across each region."

"The HRC cost indices, which are derived from CRU's proprietary steel cost model, will supplement CRU's benchmark hot-rolled coil prices in the U.S. Midwest, Germany and Italy", said Glenn Cooney, Head of Operations for CRU Indices.  He went on to say, "They demonstrate CRU's wider capabilities beyond price indices.  Moreover, if market participants are looking to reference a cost element in their physical contracts they may well choose to reference these as opposed to a single input cost such as iron ore or scrap."

Applications for a 2 month trial of CRU's hot-rolled coil cost indices are being accepted via http://www.cruindices.com

Note for editors: 

CRU is an independent, privately owned, analysis, consulting and events business specializing in the mining, metals and fertilizer sectors.

Founded in the late 1960s and headquartered in London, CRU has over 200 employees worldwide and has offices in Pittsburgh, Beijing, Mumbai, Sydney and Santiago.

Further information is available at http://www.cruindices.com  

For queries relating to CRU's flat product price indices or HRC cost indices, please contact:

Glenn Cooney
Head of Operations, CRU Indices
Email: glenn.cooney@crugroup.com

Dr Paul Butterworth
Research Manager - Raw Materials & Steel Costs
Email: paul.butterworth@crugroup.com

SOURCE CRU