Steady demand and tight supply continue to define the US plate market, allowing announced increases to be reflected in spot prices.
The early-April announced $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) increase for May deliveries is being slowly absorbed into the US domestic plate market. The increase announcement was led by Nucor on April 1 and almost immediately followed by other US plate mills. While it may take a few take a few weeks for the full $2.00 cwt. to be reflected in spot prices, plate spot prices are up $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the high end since our last report two weeks ago and currently range from $54.00-$56.00 cwt. ($1,190-$1,235/mt or $1,080-$1,120/nt) ex-Midwest mill.
While domestic demand for plate looks to be stable for the time being--especially since spot plate availability is difficult to come by domestically--plate buyers are concerned that the recent softening in the US flat-rolled market will eventually begin to spill over into their own. Additionally, while international slab prices remain firm, early predictions anticipate a softening in Q3, which will put added pressure on plate spot prices. For now though, plate prices will continue to firm in the near future, especially considering that order activity has been steady, and mills will likely open order books for June deliveries (possibly with another price increase) in early May.
On the import side, while there has been no new offer for Russian plate in the last week, there have been numerous offers from countries that do not regularly import plate into the US. Romania, for one, is offering steel plate to the US at $48.00-$50.00 cwt. ($1,058-$1,102/mt or $960-$1,000/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Offers of plate from Taiwan and Thailand have also been heard in the last week, both in the approximate range of $48.00-$49.00 cwt. ($1,058-$1,080/mt or $960-$980/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Although US buyers report interest in the plate offers, which are about $5.00-$6.00 cwt. ($110-$132/mt or $100-$120/nt) below US domestic levels, deliveries are slated for July/August, too far out for most to take the risk.