The first recent flat rolled steel price increase may have been slow to gain acceptance, but pricing has indeed firmed since our last report a week ago. Whether the second $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) increase, announced by mills this week, will be accepted has yet to be determined.
Today, the average price point for US domestic HRC is hovering at $25 cwt. ($551/mt or $500/nt), up from $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($507-$529/mt or $460-$480/nt), ex-mill last Friday.
Although some believe that higher scrap prices may support additional HRC price firming, others point to unexciting demand levels, as many service centers chose to stock up late last month before the price increases were in play.
“Lead times are longer, but that’s because everyone stocked up when they thought the market had bottomed,” a source said. “Realistically, when you take Thanksgiving and Christmas into account, we have about 5 weeks left in the year. It’s hard to say whether higher scrap prices will push the spot market up more, or if higher scrap prices will help ensure the first increase has staying power.”