US
flats mills are looking to raise prices by about $30/nt to $40/nt ($33/mt to $44/mt or $1.50 cwt. to $2.00 cwt.) in October, following the leads of integrated producers
US Steel and AK Steel.
Most mills have not made October price announcements yet but SteelOrbis hears that flat rolled producers are generally aiming to go up by at least another $30/nt in October, and have mostly closed their books for September, aside from some
HRC availability.
All segments of the US flat rolled market are expected to trend slightly up in October, though the trend for
coated products like HDG and Galvalume is particularly strong due to the benefits the market is seeing as the US
automotive and metal building sectors start to spark back to life. Furthermore, zinc prices are on the rise, impacting HDG prices in the form of coating extras.
Some flat rolled customers, anticipating a further lift in demand and pricing, report that they are even starting to do some hedge buying again. Offshore buying remains quiet, however, as end-use demand has not improved considerably and imports are still higher priced than domestic material. Nevertheless, the overall sentiment in the US
flats market remains mostly positive and it is currently considered to be the strongest product line of the
US steel market (compared to
longs, tubulars, etc.)
Most domestic hot-dip
galvanized (HDG) coil base prices for September shipments have been settled at the price range reported by SteelOrbis two weeks ago, of $29.00 cwt. to $31.00 cwt. ($639 /mt to $683 /mt or $540 /nt to $620 /nt), while 0.019” x 48” G90 (0.48 mm x 1.219 m) offers for September ranged from $38.00 cwt. to $40.00 cwt. ($838 /mt to $882 /mt or $760 /nt to $800 /nt). Domestic offers of 0.012” x 40.875” G30 (0.30 mm x 1.04 m) ranged from $40.00 cwt. to $42.00 cwt. ($882 /mt to $926 /mt or $800 /nt to $840 /nt). All prices are ex-mill, Midwest.
Domestic Galvalume prices base prices for September were settled at a range of $30.00 cwt. to $32.00 cwt. ($661 /mt to $705 /mt or $600 /nt to $640 /nt) and 0.019" x 41.5625" AZ55 (0.482 mm x 1.056 m) offers were from $39.00 cwt. to $41.00 cwt. ($860 /mt to $904 /mt or $780 /nt to $820 /nt) ex-Midwest mills.
Looking towards the new October domestic
flats prices, as stated, mills are expected to go up by at least $30/nt. While AK Steel and
US Steel, both integrated firms which deal largely with the
automotive market, have already announced increases, market leader
Nucor will, as usual, be the one to set the new market price, with other minimills like Steel Dynamics Inc. following suit.
Nucor's price may be slightly under the AK and
US Steel announcements, depending on how closely
Nucor wants to mirror the busheling
scrap up-tick (expected to be about $25/ton) for August.
On the import side, prices are also expected to go up by another $30/nt to $40/nt in October. For now, most offshore mills have withdrawn their offers with hopes of getting higher prices next month, with only
China and
India remaining in the market to some degree for the time being.
Chinese HDG offers of 0.019” G90 now range from $41.00 cwt. to $42.00 cwt. ($904 /mt to $926 /mt or $820 /nt to $840 /nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports, while Indian offers of the same material are about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) less.
India is the primary offshore source currently offering 0.012” G30, with most offers ranging from $42.00 cwt. to $44.00 cwt. ($926 /mt to $970 /mt or $840 /nt to $880 /nt) in the Gulf.
As for Galvalume, offers of 0.019” AZ55 from
Taiwan,
India and
China, are all offered within the range of $43.00 cwt. to $45.00 cwt. ($948 /mt to $992 /mt or $860 /nt to $900 /nt) to the Gulf.