The 2015 US domestic flats market spot price correction has continued since our last report a week ago, with another $1.00 cwt. “across the board” downtick seen across most product lines. As it stands, US domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have settled to the approximate range of $32.00-$34.00 cwt. ($705-$750/mt or $640-$680/nt) ex-Midwest mill; that range, however, is said to be “quite flexible” based on the size and scope of the order.
“The situation is the same no matter what product you’re talking about,” according to one Texas-based source. “Inventories are healthy and no one is buying anything until the market finally bottoms out. And since it’s suspected that the US domestic scrap market is likely to trend down in February buys, CRC buyers are likely to take a “wait and see” approach when it comes to determining if and by how much that could affect the spot market.
Futures offers from Brazil, Russia, China and India have also ticked downward since our last report a week ago, as offshore mills are hungry for orders and looking to maintain their price advantage. Trader sources, however, say no one is exactly “chomping at the bit” to buy. Many US buyers placed their orders toward the end of Q4, and a lot of that material is already at, or soon to be arriving at the dock. That, compounded with the downward trend within the US spot market has interest in offshore bookings trending weak.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| Ex-Midwest mill | ||||
| CRC | $32-$34 | $705-$750 | $640-$680 | down $1.00 |
| Brazil* | ||||
| CRC | $29-30 | $639-$661 | $580-$600 | down $1.50 cwt. |
| Russia* | ||||
| CRC | $29-30 | $639-$661 | $580-$600 | down $1.50 cwt. |
| China* | ||||
| CRC | $28-30 | $617-$661 | $560-$600 | down $1.00 cwt. on low end. |
| India* | ||||
| CRC | $31-$33 | $683-$727 | $620-$660 | down $1.00 cwt. on low end. |
| *DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports | ||||