The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) continues to hold at $32-$34 cwt. ($705-$750/mt or $640-$680/nt), ex-mill, but market players are divided when it comes to which way the spot market will trend.
Some still cite a strong belief that prices could continue to soften until landing in the range of $30-$32 ($661-$705/mt or $600-$640/nt), ex-mill. Others, however, point to Tuesday’s ruling by the US Department of Commerce in the Korean OCTG trade case administrative review, which implemented a 24.92 percent dumping duty against Nexsteel, which has been the largest supplier of Korean OCTG casing to the US domestic market.
“With Nexsteel out of the market, the argument could be made that this will lead to upticks in demand from domestic pipe mills. If that happens, the trickle down to hot rolled coil will be inevitable,” another source said. “I don’t think this is going to push prices upward, but it may help keep things a bit more stable.”