Will the OCTG trade case ruling have an impact on US CRC?

Both the US domestic and import cold rolled coil (CRC) markets have remained stable in the past seven days, although market activity has picked up slightly now that workers are back on the job after the long holiday weekend.   The most commonly reported spot price transaction range for US CRC has remained steady for the fourth week in a row, still at $37.50-$39.00 cwt. ($827-$860/mt or $750-$780/nt) ex-Midwest mill.  What is of interest, however, is Friday’s final determination ruling by the US ITC on OCTG imports, which US pipe producers considered to be a “win”. It has long been rumored that if US OCTG petitioners were successful in obtaining high margins against offshore mills, namely, those in Korea, that flats mills may try to petition for a case of their own.  It’s also rumored that if an action does move forward, a case against US import hot dipped galvanized (HDG) will come first, but that’s not to say a case against US import cold rolled coil wouldn’t be soon to follow.  For now, the market is waiting to see how the proverbial dust settles.