US domestic flat-rolled spot prices have slipped again this week reaching the lowest level since early February.
Stagnant order activity continues to adversely affect flat-rolled spot prices; US domestic mills have been more willing to cut deals to fill order books, and at least one mill is still offering late May deliveries for hot rolled coil (HRC). Both HRC and CRC spot prices have fallen $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) in the last week. HRC spot prices are now $39.00-$41.00 cwt. ($860-$904/mt or $780-$820/nt) ex-Midwest mill, with deals for "the right customer" heard even slightly below. Spot prices for CRC are in the range of $45.00-$47.00 cwt. ($992-$1,036/mt or $900-$940/nt) ex-Midwest mill, with both expected to fall at least another $1.00 cwt. by the end of May.
West Coast flat-rolled spot prices have softened as well, as June order books remain light across West Coast mills. HRC spot prices have edged down $1.00 cwt. on the low end in the last week to $41.00-$43.00 cwt. ($904-$948/mt or $820-/nt) ex- mill, while CRC spot ranges are still $47.00-$48.00 cwt. ($1,036-$1,058/mt or $940-$960/nt) ex- mill. Low-priced import offers in March and April look to be the main culprit for lower spot prices on the West Coast-spot prices are down $4.00 cwt. ($88/mt or $80/nt) from May to June delivery. One trader told SteelOrbis that "West Coast mills are realizing that many of the orders they expected to receive for June delivery were placed with Chinese and Korean mills in March," forcing them to drop June delivery prices to regain market share.
But even lower US domestic spot prices have not affected what has been a reluctance to place any orders that aren't immediately necessary in the past month. Many US buyers placed orders offshore for June and July arrival in March and April, and are now sitting on the sidelines as they wait for imported material to arrive.
Data from the US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) show that already, the US has seen an influx of flat-rolled imports, with 197,026 mt (census data) of hot rolled sheet arriving in March compared to 152,496 mt in February. And license data point to 243,051 mt having arrived in April. The jump in CRC imports has been dramatic as well; after 57,307 mt of cold rolled sheet was imported in February (the US has imported approximately 65,000 mt of cold rolled sheet per month in the last year), 117,297 mt of cold rolled sheet arrived into the US in March, with 92,210 arriving in April.
As for current import offer prices, both Mexican and Chinese offers for HRC and CRC have fallen approximately $1.00 cwt. in the last week to match US domestic spot price declines. Traders tell SteelOrbis however that after sales prices to the US hit a low of $36.00 cwt. ($794/mt or $720/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports, Russian mills reversed the downtrend and are now hiking offers to the US. Russian offers are now in the range of $37.00-$38.00 cwt. ($816-$838/mt or $740-$760/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports for August arrival.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| HRC | $39.00-$41.00 | $860-$904 | $780-$820 | ↓$1.00 cwt. |
| CRC | $45.00-$47.00 | $992-$1,036 | $900-$940 | ↓$1.00 cwt. |
| Mexico* | ||||
| HRC | $38.00-$39.00 | $838-$860 | $760-$780 | ↓$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| Russia** | ||||
| HRC | $37.00-$38.00 | $816-$838 | $740-$760 | ↑ $1.00 cwt. on high end |
| China** | ||||
| CRC | $44.00-$45.00 | $970-$992 | $880- $900 | ↓$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| Mexico* | ||||
| CRC | $43.00-$44.00 | $948-$970 | $860-$880 | ↓$1.00 cwt. |
**Duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports