Following the downward trend in flat steel spot pricing, which was primarily caused by softness in the hot rolled coil (HRC) segment, this week's spot offers have remained at around last week's levels as a result of persistently weak demand and the stability of the HRC market. Aside from that, slight price drops in the scrap market and ongoing domestic economic worries have created unfavorable and gloomy expectations for the flat steel spot market in the coming weeks.
Over the last week, workable domestic hot rolled sheet pricing has remained at $660-690/mt ex-warehouse. While mid-sized and smaller traders are providing approximately $660-670/mt ex-warehouse, larger traders are giving around $680-690/mt ex-warehouse. Meanwhile, a few smaller traders have chosen to offer significantly higher than the market price range, at around $700-720/mt ex-warehouse, which is unacceptable given the market circumstances.
In a comparable manner, in the cold rolled sheet segment, most sellers have decided to keep offers stable at $760-795/mt ex-warehouse from the previous week.
