The belief that prices within the US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) markets could face additional price softening before it reaches bottom continues to hold, but the mid-week New Year’s Day holiday has kept the flats market trending flat. “Most people won’t be back in the office until Monday,” according to SteelOrbis sources, “so while pretty much everyone is expecting to see some sort of downward movement within the spot market, it’s not going to happen until people get back to work.”
For now, the most commonly reported spot price transaction range for US domestic HRC has remained steady since our last report a week ago, still at $30-$31 cwt. ($661-$671/mt or $600-$620/nt), ex-Midwest mill, while offshore futures offers have also remained lateral.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| Ex-Midwest mill | ||||
| HRC | $30-$31 | $661-$684 | $600-$620 | neutral |
| Turkey* | ||||
| HRC | $27.50-$28.50 | $606-$628 | $550-$570 | neutral |
| Japan* | ||||
| HRC | $27-$28 | $595-$617 | $540-$560 | neutral |
| Australia* | ||||
| HRC | $28-$29 | $617-$639 | $560-$580 | neutral but flexible |
| Brazil* | ||||
| HRC | $28-$29 | $639-$661 | $580-$600 | neutral but flexible |
| *DDP loaded truck US Gulf Coast ports | ||||