Spot market prices for US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) have softened by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since our last report a week ago, from $35-$37 cwt. ($772-$816/mt or $700-$740/nt), ex-mill, to $34-$36 cwt. ($750-$794/mt or $680-$720/nt), ex-mill, but at least one source close to SteelOrbis confirmed placing a “not a huge order” at a price point that was $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) below that range.
“The wheels have fallen off the cart,” the source said. “The market needs a bottom and we’re not going to see that until the mills start saying ‘no’.”
Another source noted that while there are several rumors that at least one major US flats producer is going to take capacity offline, final confirmation of that rumor has yet to materialize.