Despite weak demand overall in the US wide flange beam market and softening prices at the distributor level, US mills will likely keep prices level for the time being.
As many suspected, a slight decrease in shredded scrap pricing this month was not enough to budge US mills on WFB pricing. Likewise, early speculation of a similar scrap price decrease in November will have the same effect--according to sources, a mere $10/long ton drop in scrap would not be enough to generate significant business, and thus mills will keep transaction prices level in that scenario, even though many think they should drop prices to reflect market sentiment. For now, then, US domestic WFB prices remain in the level of $42.00 cwt. ($926/mt or $840/nt) ex-Midwest mill (for ASTM A992, W10 x 10, W18 x 6, and W24 x 7).
While the mills have been able to overlook the weak market when determining prices, distributors have not had as much luck. Sources tell SteelOrbis that ex-distributor prices are softening, but not because they have access to cheap material--the slight drop in prices is due primarily to an effort to capture orders, and if market activity remains lackluster, distributors might turn the pressure back on mills to lower prices so that the market doesn't further erode their profit margins.
As would be expected in the current environment, import offers are largely being ignored right now. Typically, US buyers expect a significant difference between imports and domestics in order to take a chance on beams, but current offers from Korea are only $41.00-$42.00 cwt. ($904-$926/mt or $820-$840/nt) DDP load truck in Gulf Coast ports, and about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) higher on the West Coast. Offers from Spain, meanwhile, range from $42.00-$43.00 cwt. ($926-$948/mt or $840-$860/nt) DDP load truck in Gulf Coast ports.