US flat rolled steel mills may have been hoping for a late Christmas present when they announced a fifth flat rolled steel price increase last week. However, despite mills’ best efforts to “push the needle” for US CRC spot market prices to at or above $40 cwt. ($882/mt or $800/nt), ex-mill, the bulk of CRC transactions are happening in the range of $38.00-$39.00 ($838-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt), ex-mill.
Sources further speculate that current price points “may not hold for long,” with one source noting that one flats producer had made a quiet offer to a customer at $35.00 cwt. ($772/mt or $700/nt), ex-mill.
“Granted, that number isn’t available to everyone and there were definitely some tons involved,” the source said. “But I think it’s indicative of where the market is going. The most recent price increase really didn’t gain any traction, and a lot of people wonder what the mills were thinking in pushing it out, other than that maybe they’d be able to ride the coattails of higher scrap prices this month. If it’s been said once, it’s been said a hundred times. Market fundamentals simply aren’t supportive of $40 cwt. cold rolled.”