Although some market sources expressed concern that the Trump administration’s lack of action with the Section 232 investigation would put downward pricing pressure on US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) spot market prices, last week’s price points, which were trending at $39.50-$40.50 cwt. ($871-$893/mt or $790-$810/nt), ex-mill, continue to hold.
“Everyone thought it would take a few weeks for things to sort themselves out, but it seems like this is turning out to be a non-event,” a source said. “Everything is the same.”
In terms of import prices, those have also remained stable. Import CRC prices from Russia in the US domestic market continue to be heard at $33-$34 cwt. ($728-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.
Import prices, however, may soon revise upward due to recent upticks in Chinese hot rolled coil prices.