Following a $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) price increase from US domestic plate mills last week, mills are quoting higher prices, but activity has shown little improvement. Sources tell SteelOrbis that when mills announced the increase following an approximately $50/lt rise in scrap prices this month, they didn't necessarily expect to be able to push through the full increase, at least not immediately--the increase was meant more to help stabilize the market after months of rapid price deterioration. But following the increase, buyers looking to make a few hedge buys were still able to place orders at pre-increase levels of $35.00-$36.00 cwt. ($772-$794/mt or $700-$720/nt) ex-Midwest mill and as much as $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) below.
For now, spot prices are unchanged since early November and how much of the increase, if any, gets fully absorbed into the market is still uncertain. Plate demand is only moderate and many buyers are sitting on heavy enough inventories that there is no rush to place orders right now, especially as previously imported plate levels at many US ports remain heavy. "Plate is everywhere," is the general sentiment expressed by multiple domestic plate sources. As for current import offers, Korea continues to offer plate to the US at about $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($728-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, but now most offers are trending toward the higher end, and therefore much too close to US domestic spots to interest potential customers.