The recently filed Section 232 case has some buyers and sellers of
US domestic cold rolled coil (
CRC) trending optimistic, but that hasn’t helped prevent further erosion within the spot market.
The most commonly heard spot price transaction range has softened by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the bottom end since our last report a week ago, which brings the current average spot market price transaction range to $39.50-$41.50 cwt. ($871-$915/mt or $790-$830/nt), ex-mill, although some SteelOrbis sources report that deals slightly below the range are available for volume buyers.
Domestic market sources say they believe that
US CRC prices are “at or near bottom,” adding that lead times continue to trend between four and six weeks.
In terms of imports, as with last week, Vietnamese
CRC in the
US domestic market has been most recently heard at $33-$35 cwt. ($728-$772/mt or $660-$700/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports, while pricing for Russian
CRC in the
US domestic market has been most recently heard at $32-$33 cwt. ($705-$728/mt or $640-$660/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports.
Trader sources say that although an “ever-shrinking number” of trading houses are still offering import
CRC, that “cancellation clauses are being added to everything based on the uncertainty with what’s going on with the 232 investigation.”