US domestic CRC prices have inched up by approximately $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since our last report a week ago, from approximately $36.00 cwt. ($794/mt or $720/nt) ex-mill to an average of $37.00-$37.50 cwt. ($816-$827/mt or $740-$750/nt) ex-mill.
Sources, however, question how long higher price points will last, because “demand still isn’t all that great.”
“They announced increases when prices were at the bottom, people bought, lead times went out and that helped mills get prices up,” a source said. “But this is less about true demand and more about the fact that people wanted to stock up at the bottom of the market.”
It’s further speculated that mills may try for another price increase before the end of the year in light of higher scrap prices during this months’ buy cycle.