The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) has softened by $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) since our last report a week ago, a trend which is largely tied to downticks in US domestic scrap pricing this month combined with slight decreases in ex-mill order activity.
Today, the most commonly heard spot price transaction range is trending at $41.50-$43.50 cwt. ($915-$959/mt or $830-$870/nt), ex-mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis have reported that volume buyers “are having no problems doing $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) better.”
And while current US CRC prices are undergoing some minor corrections, market conditions are still far better than they were in early April 2016, when SteelOrbis reported US CRC prices at $30.50-$32.00 ($672-$705/mt or $610-$640/nt), ex-mill.
“No one is panicking because we all expected this would happen,” one source said. “The idea was that the market would run itself up, level out and then show some signs of correction. This is more about the market leveling itself out.”
Another source agreed, adding that overall, sentiment remains strong.
“I think we’ll see some corrections but no one thinks the market is going to crash and burn,” he said. “The current spread between hot rolled and cold rolled is still pretty significant and if anything, either hot rolled prices will need to come up, or cold rolled prices will need to come down. The spread is just too big.”