Last Friday, US domestic steel makers announced they’d be raising prices on all flat rolled steel products, including US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC). Nucor said they were raising flat steel prices by $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt), whereas US Steel said they’d be raising prices by $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt). AMUSA set their new base price for HRC at $25.00 cwt. ($551/mt or $500/nt), ex-mill.
This week, sources note, prices have moved upward, from an average of $21.50-$23.00 cwt. ($474-$507/mt or $430-$460/nt), ex-mill, to a span of $22.00-$25.00 cwt. ($485-$551/mt or $440-$500/nt), ex-mill. However, most contract buyers have said they’re being quoted at $23.00-$24.00 cwt. ($507-$529/mt or $460-$480/nt), ex-mill. “But if push came to shove and we showed up with a decent sized order, we might be able to do a little better that that,” a source said.
Another source said that despite an “absolutely abysmal capacity utilization rate, mills succeeded in getting prices higher because they filled their order books with cheap orders. This helped them get business, build a backlog and push lead times out.”