Spot prices in the domestic cut-to-length plate market have vacillated since our last report two weeks ago.
Last week's most commonly reported transaction ranges of $39.50-$40.50 cwt. ($871-$893/mt or $790-$810/nt) ex-Midwest mill are still valid. However, some East Coast service centers have reportedly purchased "large quantities" in the $37.00-$38.00 cwt. ($816-$838/mt or $740-$760/nt) range ex-mill, commenting that "the domestic plate market is still soft enough to strike deals with mills if you're buying excess tonnage."
Buyers have become increasingly persistent in recent weeks in regards to finding "the best bang for their buck," and distributors who normally "make one or two calls before placing an order, now make 10," explained one service center in the South.
Nucor's $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) price increase announcement on domestic cut-to-length plate last week appears to have few buyers rattled, and although a number of other mills are expected to follow suit and announce their own increases in the near future, most industry experts predict that mills will be unable to garner the full $1.50 cwt. until early in the new year. So even though demand isn't entirely lackluster, it appears it's still not strong enough for mills to impose higher prices just yet. And with a seasonally weak period overall, and concerns about year-end inventory levels, there simply isn't enough market activity to justify any real price momentum until the start of 2011.
As with weeks past, a number of smaller service centers continue opting to make purchases from larger distribution centers rather than from mills, citing the ability to purchase cut-to-length plate "Monday and have it delivered by Wednesday."
Lead times have now moved into the latter weeks of December, as several large distributors claim that although order books are now only about 70 percent of what they were in the pre-recessionary period, they are "cautiously optimistic" of demand and overall increased activity that may arise from confidence in a new government and a new year.
What's most interesting this week is what appears to be renewed interest in plate offerings from Russia, which is reportedly offering its cut-to-length plate for $36.00 cwt. ($794/mt or $720/nt) FOB loaded truck in US Gulf Ports. Preliminary license data from the US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) however show that Russia has had only sporadic deliveries in US ports in past months, and it has been primarily Canada that has been supplying the US with significant import tons, averaging approximately 17,000 mt per month since September of last year.