While California Steel Industries announced Friday a price increase on flats and galvanized products, sources tell SteelOrbis that the trend will stay localized--for now. The increase of $1.50 cwt. ($33.00/mt or $30.00/nt) on hot rolled coil (HRC) and $2.00 cwt. ($44.00/mt or $40/nt) on cold rolled coil (CRC) for February orders points to a likely trend direction for the rest of the country, but sources are split on how much will trickle eastward.
"This may have some limited impact on the West Coast, but likely not a big impact," one source said. Yet another source told SteelOrbis other mills are expected to follow suit with similar increases.
In the meanwhile, Midwest HRC spot prices are flat in the general range of about $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($720-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt) ex-mill and CRC spot prices are still approximately $38.00-$39.00 cwt. ($837-$859/mt or $768-$780/nt) ex-mill.
Import prices also remained neutral this week. HRC offers from Russia got aggressive recently and mills are standing firm on that new pricing to continue to attract overseas buyers. Russian HRC offers stood at approximately $27.00-$28.00 cwt. ($595-$617/mt or $540-$560/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Indian CRC, which recently saw a slight uptick, also remained steady at $35.50-$36.50 cwt. ($761-$783/mt or $690-$710/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| Ex-Midwest mill | ||||
| HRC | $33.00 -$34.00 | $720-$750 | $660-$680 | neutral |
| CRC | $38.00-$39.00 | $837-$859 | $768-$780 | neutral |
| Mexico** | ||||
| HRC | $30.00-$31.00 | $661-$683 | $600-$620 | neutral |
| China* | ||||
| CRC | $33.50-$34.50 | $739-$761 | $670-$690 | neutral |
| Russia* | ||||
| HRC | $27.00-$28.00 | $595-$617 | $540-$560 | neutral |
| India* | ||||
| CRC | $35.50-$36.50 | $783-$805 | $710-$730 | neutral |
| *DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports | ||||
| *DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston | ||||