US domestic flat rolled spot prices are rising, but how quickly and by how much is varying drastically between regions. In general, domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) spot prices have increased $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the high end to $31.00-$33.00 cwt. ($683-$728/mt or $620-$660/nt) and $36.00-$38.00 cwt. ($794-$838/mt or $720-$760/nt), respectively, both ex-mill. In the upper Midwest and East Coast regions, mills are filling up January order books for all flat-rolled steel products, and because of the extended lead times, mills are finding less resistance in enforcing announced increases. On the other hand, overcapacity is hitting the South/Southeast US regions especially hard and availability is profuse--while CRC orders have been in January now for a couple weeks, HRC lead times are still in late December and SteelOrbis has learned of at least one mill desperate for orders making deals under $31.00 cwt.
The shorter lead times are what industry insiders point to as the main reason why most mills still have not officially announced a second round of increases. Severstal North America, NLMK USA and RG Steel have officially raised prices for a second time, but other mills have only indicated verbally or through informal e-mails that prices would soon be up again, according to market sources, and may be waiting to close December order books or for December scrap prices to become evident before officially taking flats prices up again. Early speculation is pointing to an increase in busheling prices this month and possibly again in January, which will lend support to mill-announced flat rolled price increases.
However, the rising US domestic spot prices haven't been enough to spur any major import activity. Chinese CRC offers are gaining some traction on the US West Coast, but are too high to interest buyers in the Gulf and East Coast regions. As for Russia, offer prices to the US have fallen $1.00 cwt. on the low end since last week to $31.00-$33.00 cwt., and a few US buyers have begun to take notice, indicating that if US prices continue to firm and Russian prices remain unchanged or even fall again, they may consider taking the risk.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| HRC | $31.00-$33.00 | $683-$728 | $620-$660 | ↑$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| CRC | $36.00-$38.00 | $794-$838 | $720-$760 | ↑$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| China | ||||
| CRC | $39.00-$40.00 | $860-$882 | $780-$800 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. |
| India | ||||
| CRC | $39.00-$40.00 | $860-$882 | $780-$800 | neutral |
| Russia | ||||
| HRC | $31.00-$33.00 | $683-$728 | $620-$660 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. on low end |