Despite an attempt to raise US domestic plate prices $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt), mills have been unable to collect on the increases yet. Even the major increase in scrap at the beginning of this month has been unable to help mills attain even a portion of the increases, although sources told SteelOrbis that mills are quoting higher prices, but there continues to be room to negotiate. Lead times on basic A-36 grade material are still only two to three weeks, while some higher-end products that usually have especially long lead times are still available for delivery in the first half of September, indicating continued market weakness. Plate buyers are still sitting on high inventories from arriving imports, and with lead times short, they have no need to make hedge buys.
On the bright side, plate spots have stopped falling after months of week-on-week declines, and are stable from early August in the range of 39.50-$40.50 cwt. ($871-$893/mt or $790-$810/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Additionally, domestic scrap prices are still anticipated to increase somewhat next month, which may help to buoy prices for a while longer. But with the majority of spot plate transactions taking place under $40.00 cwt. ($882/mt or $800/nt) ex-Midwest mill, current import offers have become less attractive, but import activity has not ceased entirely either. Japanese and Korean offer prices are between $36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, down about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the high end in the last two weeks.