The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for
US domestic cold rolled coil (
CRC) has trended stable since our last report a week ago, at $37-$39 cwt. ($816-$860/mt or $740-$780/nt), ex-mill, although it’s believed the recent downtrend may have come to an end.
Last Friday, California Steel Industries announced they would raise prices on all flat rolled steel products, including
CRC, by $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt), effective immediately. Earlier this week, Nucor and NLMK USA echoed CSI’s increase announcement, although none of the mills announced new, minimum base pricing.
“The $37’s are already fading fast,” a source told SteelOrbis.
“The announcements seem to have stopped the blood-letting,” a second source said. “The general expectation is that prices won’t move upward until after the Section 232 investigation results are announced later this month, but at this point, I see things leveling out.”
In terms of import offers, a handful of traders are continuing to offer
US import
CRC from Russia in the
US domestic market at $31-$33 cwt. ($683-$728/mt or $620-$660/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports, although a majority of trader sources say they are no longer offering due to Section 232-related uncertainty.