Although the holiday week has left order activity, inquiries and spot market booking relatively quiet for the US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) market, business is expected to resume as usual next week. However, the biggest question on the market’s mind remains if other US flats mills will join US Steel in a $1.25 cwt. ($28/mt or $25/nt) price increase (or any increase). Sources tell SteelOrbis that the announcement has not yet affected US CRC spot prices of $35.70-$39.00 cwt. ($827-$860/mt or $750-$780/nt) ex-Midwest mill, which remain unchanged in the past three weeks.
At this point, many are wondering if prices have stopped their slow tick downward, and if the market will continue to hold its course; spot pricing for other flat rolled steel products are also holding at neutral and the US domestic scrap prices could very well trend up in some regions for July buys (that landscape is expected to be clearer as of next week). In terms of futures pricing for India and China, they too have remained lateral, although some traders have said they’re backing away from Chinese offers due to rumors that a trade case could soon be coming.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| Ex-Midwest mill | ||||
| CRC | $37.50-$39.00 | $827-$860 | $750-$780 | neutral |
| China* | ||||
| CRC | $31.00-$32.00 | $684-$706 | $620-$640 | neutral |
| India* | ||||
| CRC | $34.00-$35.00 | $750-$771 | $680-$700 | neutral |
| *DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports | ||||