US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) spot market prices have corrected by an additional $1.00 cwt. since our last report a week ago. Today, the average range is trending at $36.50-$37.50 cwt. ($805-$827/mt or $730-$750/nt), ex-Midwest mill. Compared to the market in early August, prices are down by $4.50 cwt. ($99/mt or $90/nt), which is a substantial decline in a two-month span.
“A lot people are looking at the market and they’re freaking out but if you look at what’s been going on with scrap, and the downtrends that have been seen in that market, cold rolled has been moving down in unison. The [mills’] margins are the same as they were 90 days ago,” one source said. “Prices are coming down, sure, but the sky isn’t falling. Once scrap bottoms out and start to go back up, you can expect to see flat rolled start to go back up too.”
Looking offshore, futures offers from Turkish and Vietnamese mills continue to be heard at $30-$31 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports. Interest in booking futures remains steady, trader sources say, with no big shake-ups having taken place in the past seven days.