The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic CRC has climbed by an astonishing $3.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) in the past seven days.
At current, the spot market is trending between $47-$49 cwt. ($1036-$1080/mt or $940-$980/nt), ex-mill, which some say isn’t surprising. Toward the end of last week, multiple sources close to SteelOrbis stated mills had been pushing prices within the current range; their desired price points gained acceptance this week.
The question of how far prices will run upward, and how long that runup will last, was renewed earlier today when US Trader Representative Robert Lighthizer confirmed that Korea, Europe, Australia, Argentina and Brazil will receive temporary exemptions from Section 232 tariffs, “while the administration negotiates possible, permanent exclusions.”
Some have already started to express concern that the exclusions could cause US market prices to reach a ceiling, if not correct, sooner than anticipated.
“None of us have any idea what’s going on,” a trader source said, adding that at current, most US CRC import pricing is being heard at over $50 cwt. ($1102/mt or $1000/nt), which makes it irrelevant.
“Even if the exclusions are permanent we don’t know if there will be minimum pricing scenarios or if they’ll be quotas. There is zero certainty and because of that, there aren’t a lot of decisions that are being made,” he said.