The most commonly heard spot market price transaction range for US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) continues to hold at approximately $38-$39 cwt. ($838-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt), ex-mill; this week’s mostly-steady price trend comes on the heels of a reported $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) price decrease that SteelOrbis reported a week ago.
Sources close to SteelOrbis, however, continue to report that deals up to $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) below this range are available to volume buyers. Lower scrap prices, less-than-desirable order activity and still-short lead times have all been credited for the softness within the US CRC spot market.
Looking offshore, import CRC prices in the US domestic market from Russia and continue to trend at $34.50-$35.00 cwt. ($761-$772/mt or $690-$700/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, although trader sources continue to report that interest in offshore bookings remains light.
It’s further believed that the downtrend in offshore bookings could have an impact on the market come January, at which time US buyers are expected to resume “more regular” buying patterns.
“Right now everyone seems to be in an inventory draw-down mode, which could cause a spike in prices in January, especially with decreased import arrivals,” a source said. “This could put the domestic mills in a very strong position in terms of pushing prices up.”