Is a price increase imminent for US domestic HRC?

Earlier this week, the US department of commerce moved to revoke its suspension agreement with Russian producers of hot rolled coil (HRC), which means that anti-dumping duties to the tune of 75.59 percent through 184.56 percent will be in play by the end of the year.  And although US domestic HRC prices have become increasingly wishy-washy in the past 30 days, that announcement may have paved the way for a price increase announcement. “This may be less about them trying to actually push prices up and more about them trying to prevent further slippage,” according to one Texas-based service center source, “and considering flats mills usually try to push something through between Halloween and the end of the year anyway, the timing seems about right.”

For now, US domestic prices have mostly held steady since our last report a week ago, still at approximately $32.00-$33.00 cwt. ($705-$727/mt or $640-$660/nt), ex-Midwest mill; the smallest buyers continue to transact orders toward the top end of that range, although the biggest buyers are able to book deals up to $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) below that range.  Offshore offers, however, have started to tick downward, and many are being seen in a range comparable to what Russian producers had been selling at.