Last week, SteelOrbis reported that US domestic CRC prices had firmed to $42-$43 cwt. ($926-$948/mt or $840-$860/nt), ex-mill, on the heels of a late January price increase announcement. This week, however, prices have remained stable.
Year-over-year prices show little improvement from levels seen in early February 2017, when US CRC spot market prices were trending between $41.00-$42.50 cwt. ($904-$937/mt or $820-$850/nt), ex-mill. This year’s price firming trend is expected to extend into mid-to-late Q2; the upticks in pricing are largely tied to depressed import arrivals.
According to the most recent data from the US Department of Commerce, in January 2018, the US CRC import permits totaled 137,022 mt, compared to 206,101 mt (census data) in January 2017.