As we previously reported, Nucor-Yamato has kept wide flange beam (WFB) prices stable for July; however, the domestic pricing trend is still slightly up as market players suggest that prices may increase slightly for August shipments.
SteelOrbis has heard from various US scrap yards that shredded scrap prices are expected to remain relatively stable for July and August. If any price fluctuation occurs at all, it will be slight. Although this may be a sign that WFB prices will remain stable again in August, market players believe that demand is strong enough for buyers to accept a modest price increase.
Domestic mills are busy as Nucor-Yamato's rolling schedule shows the mill is closed to new orders until mid-September. Future rollings are filling quickly, forcing producers to put customers on allocation. However, SteelOrbis has heard of some availability for certain customers with smaller orders. Although non-residential construction has shown slight signs of weakening, the market is still relatively strong, keeping demand for larger structural steel products up.
All three major US producers have kept WFB prices stable for the month of July. Published prices for standard sized wide flange beams (ASTM A992, W10 x 10, W18 x 6, W24 x 7) range from $38.25 cwt. to $38.50 cwt. ($843 /mt to $849 /mt or $765 /nt to $770 /nt) FOB mill.
The wide flange beam import market is pretty slow. US buyers are not seeing many imports coming in as major overseas producers like Taiwan are selling more to the Middle Eastern market, which is are willing to pay more for the same product. Offerings from Taiwan to the US were on the high side and have not been accepted in the market, forcing Taiwanese mills to reduce their prices by approximately $2.00 cwt. ($44 /mt or $40 /nt) in the past month.
The few Taiwanese offers that have surfaced are now in the range of $40.00 cwt. to $41.00 cwt. ($882 /mt to $904 /mt or $800 /nt to $820 /nt) FOB ex-dock Gulf and West Coast.
Chinese mills are currently not offering as everyone waits to see what result the added ten percent export tax on WFB will have on their future offers. Offering prices are expected to increase; however, Chinese mills will most likely absorb some of the cost since the domestic prices in North America have not gone up in the last three months.
Data from the United States Import Administration show that worldwide H-beam exports to the US in June up to the twelfth of the month totaled only 4,320 mt, while tonnage for the month of May totaled 28,962 mt. Taiwan took the lead in export tonnage to the US in May, shipping 10,597 mt, while Luxembourg is the top exporter in June (up to June 12) with 3,199 mt.