US domestic flat rolled spot prices have experienced an uptick in the last week, with both hot rolled (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) spot prices increasing about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) from prices a week ago. However, price increases from domestic mills in the last couple weeks ranged from about $1.50-$2.50 cwt. ($33-$55/mt or $30-$50/nt) and brought mill asking prices to $33.50 cwt. ($739/mt or $670/nt) on HRC and about $39.00 cwt. ($860/mt or $780/nt) on CRC, so domestic spot prices (see below chart) still remain well below.
One factor that is allowing domestic mills to push for higher prices is extended lead times--the majority of mill order books are close to filling up for December. However, sources tell SteelOrbis that the full order books are a direct response to buyers hedging against the possibility that prices could increase further and are not a reflection of any sort of pickup in demand. So with domestic production rates still rising, there is widespread skepticism about whether or not the announced increases can be fully absorbed--especially with another drop in scrap prices still anticipated for December.
The uncertain US domestic market is curbing any interest in imports for the time being, and although new Russian HRC offers to the US are now in the range of $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($705-$728/mt or $640-$660/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, compared to the last offers heard approximately a month ago that were about $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) higher, they are still too high for US buyers to gamble on.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| HRC | $30.00-$32.00 | $661-$705 | $600-$640 | ↑$1.00 cwt. |
| CRC | $35.00-$37.00 | $772-$816 | $700-$740 | ↑$1.00 cwt. |
| China | ||||
| CRC | $40.00-$41.00 | $882-$904 | $800-$820 | neutral |
| India | ||||
| CRC | $39.00-$40.00 | $860-$882 | $780-$800 | newly offered |
| Russia | ||||
| HRC | $32.00-$33.00 | $705-$728 | $640-$660 | newly offered |