Last week, US domestic flat rolled steel mills announced they would be raising prices on all flat rolled steel products, including US CRC, by a minimum of $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt), effective with all new orders.
And while the price increase has failed to gain full acceptance, prices in the past seven days have widened by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the top end, from $40-$41 ($882-$904/mt or $800-$820/nt), ex-mill, to $40-$42 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt), ex-mill.
Although there are still questions as to whether mills will succeed in pushing prices up drastically, it’s believed that prices could continue to firm in March, due to anticipated upticks in US domestic scrap prices during the March buy-cycle.
In previous weeks, SteelOrbis predicted US flat rolled steel prices would firm slightly before the end of Q1, with price firming of up to $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) above end-Q1 levels taking place in Q2. This prediction still holds.
In terms of offshore offers, traders have said that import pricing is “nearly on par” with current price points in the domestic market; US import CRC from Vietnam, sources say, is the only import CRC that’s being sold under $40.00 cwt. ($882/mt or $800/nt). The current range for Vietnamese CRC is $38-$39 cwt. ($838-$860/mt or $760-$780/nt), DDP loaded Truck in US Gulf coast ports. With the remainder of import prices being similar to domestic offers, buyers are reluctant to place orders.
It’s currently believed that the current reluctance to book offshore will have an impact on domestic pricing in the upcoming months, when a lull in import arrivals starts to emerge.