It would seem that US domestic flats pricing is not immune from the old adage, “what goes up must come down,” as prices for hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and galvanized products are exhibiting signs of softening. The most commonly reported range for HRC has ticked down by about $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) since our last report a week ago, to $32.50-$33.50 cwt. ($717-$739/mt or $650-$670/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Lead times are still stretched out, according to industry insiders, but there’s no sign of them lengthening any further, which has mills out looking for business. And although the current range represents the average transaction price, it’s rumored that deals slightly below this range are in fact available.
Looking offshore, futures prices out of Mexico and Russia have held sideways since our last report a week ago, but now that US domestic prices have officially started to taper, buyers may hold off on making futures buys until the domestic situation becomes clearer.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| Ex-Midwest mill | ||||
| HRC | $32.50-$33.50 | $717-$739 | $650-$670 | down $0.50 cwt. |
| Mexico** | ||||
| HRC | $32.00-$33.00 | $706-$728 | $640-$660 | neutral |
| Russia* | ||||
| new bookings HRC | $31.00-$32.00 | $684-$706 | $620-$640 | neutral |
| **DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston | ||||