US domestic coated flat steel price trend varying by product

There is still a general wariness within the US domestic coated flat steel spot market, but mills have been nonetheless pushing for higher prices. More mills have joined in a third round of price increases in the last week, including Severstal North America, Steel Dynamics, ArcelorMittal USA and most recently, Nucor. While some increase announcements were by official letter and others through company memos/e-mails, official asking prices from mills on hot dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume coil base are $37.50 cwt. ($827/mt or $750/nt) ex-Midwest mill. HDG coil spot prices have not yet reached those levels, but Galvalume coil spots are rising faster.

With Mexican Galvalume coil prices now up--rising about $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) in the last week--US domestic mills have less import competition, allowing for domestic Galvalume coil base prices to increase $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since last week to $35.00-$37.00 cwt. ($772-$816/mt or $700-$740/nt) ex-Midwest mill.

Meanwhile, HDG base prices are up $1.00 cwt. on the low end since last week to $35.00-$36.00 cwt. ($772-$794/mt or $700-$720/nt) ex-mill. Spots for HDG 0.012"x40.875" G30 and 0.019"x48" G90 are stable at $44.50-$45.50 cwt. ($981-$1,003/mt or $890-$910/nt) ex-mill, but most transactions are taking place on the higher end, and the prices are likely to increase by at least $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) in the next week.