Hot rolled coil emerges as strongest product in US domestic flats market

US domestic flat rolled spot prices have continued to firm since last week as demand has been better than many expected. Additionally, production issues at a few mills--the temporary idling of RG Steel and a fire at US Steel's pickling line at its Irvin plant--have constrained some availability of hot rolled coil (HRC). Coupled with strong demand from buyers in certain sectors such as energy tubulars, domestic flats mills have been able to push up HRC spot prices $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) in the last week to $36.00-$38.00 cwt. ($794-$838/mt or $720-$760/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Meanwhile, the cold rolled coil (CRC) spot price range hasn't moved from $40.00-$42.00 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt) ex-Midwest mill, but the bottom end of the range is firming and will likely no longer be available by next week.

Despite rising US domestic spot prices, most US buyers still are not willing to place an order offshore. Domestic lead times are beginning to stall and with RG Steel restarting its blast furnace late last week, many are concerned that the domestic market may soon be hitting a peak; therefore import orders placed today may be more of a liability than an advantage when they arrive in Q2.