Spot market prices for US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) have seemingly leveled out at $38-$40 cwt. ($838-$882/mt $760-$800/nt), ex-mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis wonder if Mexican import CRC, which is no longer subject to Section 232 tariffs, will place downward pressure on US prices.
Some sources close to SteelOrbis speculate that Mexico will resume offering “at price points slightly below where the domestic mills are offering” as a means of driving order placement. Since lead times from Mexico are in most cases comparable with lead times at domestic mills, lower prices may pique interest. Other sources, however, believe that buyers will be unlikely to rush to stock up, as there’s concern that domestic prices could erode into Q3 2019.
Data from the US Department of Commerce shows that during the month of March 2019, the US imported 16,088 mt (census data) of cold rolled sheet from Mexico; in contrast the US imported 24,961 mt (census data) of cold rolled sheet from Mexico in March 2018.