Price weakness creeps back into US domestic flats market

After US domestic flat rolled spot prices managed to inch up last week, order entry levels slowed again and with scrap prices settling lower for February, flats prices are once again under downward pressure. About a week ago, as a number of mills began strongly pushing for higher prices, hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) spot prices bounced off the bottom by about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt), although many were instantly skeptical that the firming was indicative of a trend. But once scrap prices settled down $10-$15/lt, order entry rates at flat rolled mills slowed once again as customers grew increasingly wary of stocking inventories.

In particular, sources tell SteelOrbis that a few mills have been cutting deals this week to fill up lackluster order books while lead times on HRC remain at only two to three weeks. For the most part, spots haven't dipped under last week's previously reported spot range of $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) ex-Midwest mill, although it wouldn't take a high-tonnage order to attain prices on the lower end of the range. As for imports, Chinese mills are still out of the market due to the Lunar New Year holiday, although new prices could be higher, further detracting already minimal futures activity on commodity products.

**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston