Producers of US domestic hollow structural sections (HSS) tubing may have tried to firm prices toward the top end of the current spot price transaction range, which has held at $47.00-$48.00 cwt. ($1,036-$1,058/mt or $940-$960/nt) ex-Midwest mill, but sources close to SteelOrbis say that while demand is steady, it’s not great, and mills are having a difficult time reaching their goal. “The market is pretty boring right now,” according to one Midwest service center. It was previously speculated that if scrap and flats prices ticked up, HSS producers might try to jump on that train, but neither of those increases happened. So for now, it’s “steady state” for US domestic HSS, with not a lot of changes expected for the duration of the month.
Meanwhile, futures prices from Korea continue to be seen in the approximate range of $37.50-$38.50 cwt. ($827-$849/mt or $750-$770/nt) DDP loaded truck US Gulf coast ports, while offers from Turkish mills have also remained lateral, still coming in approximately $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) higher than their Korean counterparts.