Weakness within the US domestic flat rolled steel spot market has pushed spot prices down following relative stability in the last couple weeks. Hot rolled coil (HRC) spots had held relatively steady in the last couple weeks, but were trending toward the lower end of the previous $30.00-$31.00 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt) ex-Midwest mill range. However, an increasing number of deals under the range began cropping up in the past couple weeks and now sub-$30.00 cwt. prices have become the norm. HRC spot prices are now between $29.00-$31.00 cwt. ($639-$683/mt or $580-$620/nt) ex-Midwest mill, with the majority of activity taking place on the lower end of the range, bring prices back to levels prior to the late February-announced price increase.
Demand and order activity are stable, according to SteelOrbis sources, but availability of flat rolled steel is plentiful and buyers are waiting until the last minute to place orders as lead times are only two to three weeks on HRC and four to five for cold rolled coil (CRC). The short lead times are allowing buyers to keep inventories lean and only buy material when it's immediately needed. Because demand is decent, no major price decline is anticipated in the coming weeks, but the high end of the current spot price ranges is likely to erode in the next week or two. Import offers for HRC are available out of Mexico but interest has been minimal. As usual, Chinese CRC futures offers are available, but continue to only attract measurable interest on the US West Coast.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| HRC | $29.00-$31.00 | $639-$683 | $580-$620 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. on low end |
| CRC | $35.00-$36.00 | $750-$772 | $680-$700 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. |
| China* | ||||
| CRC | $34.50-$35.50 | $761-$783 | $690-$710 | neutral |
| Mexico** | ||||
| HRC | $29.00-$30.00 | $639-$661 | $580-$600 | newly offered |
*DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports
**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston