Will current US CRC prices hold through September?

There are a number of variables in play when it comes to US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) prices, the most notable of which relates to hedge buying of import CRC earlier this year.  Although prices within the US domestic market have sustained at approximately $38.00-$39.00 cwt. ($837-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt) ex-Midwest mill, unchanged since our last report a week ago, SteelOrbis sources say an increasing number of bookings are taking place at the bottom part of that range.

Trader sources also point to imports that are about to start arriving on the docks. “A lot of people hedge-bought and likely overbought CRC from offshore producers in order to get their tons in before a trade case was filed,” said one Texas-based trader.  “But it gets to a point where people just don’t need any more product, no matter how good the price is.”