The most commonly heard spot market price transaction range for US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) has softened by $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) since our last report a week ago, which brings the current average spot market price to $38-$39 cwt. ($838-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt), ex-mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis have reported that the largest volume buyers are able to negotiate down by about $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) with mills.
The price softening has largely been attributed to two key factors; first, inventories continue to remain bloated from the “double-buying” buyers did when the Section 232 investigation was announced. Second, since a number of service and distribution centers continue to hold inventory, there is “no rush to run to the mills to take on inventory, especially since prices are coming down.”
Looking offshore, import CRC prices in the US domestic market from Russia and Vietnam are still holding at $34.50-$35.00 cwt. ($761-$772/mt or $690-$700/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, although trader sources have noted that since large volume buyers in the US can obtain US CRC from domestic mills at $36.00 cwt. ($794/mt or $720/nt), interest in booking offshore is waning.