Yesterday, Nucor announced they would be raising prices on all US domestic flat rolled steel prices by a minimum of $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt), effective with all new orders; and while the increase has been largely anticipated, what’s surprising to many is that the other domestic mills have not yet followed suit.
In the absence of mill consensus, the bottom end of the US cold rolled coil (CRC) spot price range has softened since our last report a week ago, from $46.50-$47.50 cwt. ($1,025-$1,047/mt or $930-$950/nt), ex-mill, to $45.50-$47.50 cwt. ($1,003-$1,047/mt or $910-$950/nt), ex-mill.
Prior to the Nucor announcement, one source close to SteelOrbis said he believed that US CRC prices “would dip below $45.00 cwt. ($992/mt or $900/nt) soon.”
The question remains as to whether the Nucor increase will stick, and whether other domestic flats producers will also try for a price increase. On one hand, US scrap prices have firmed during the October buy cycle. Buyers have also been drawing down inventory levels, since many have decided to hold off on making purchases until they were confident the market had bottomed out.
On the other hand, lead times “are still on the soft side,” a source said, noting that in the absence of price increase solidarity from the other flats mills, the Nucor increase may be less about pushing prices upward than it is about preventing further slippage.
Year-over-year prices, however, are still strong; in mid-October 2017, US CRC spot market prices were trending at $38-$39 cwt. ($838-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt), ex-mill.