Many within the US domestic HRC market would not be surprised to see another mill price increase in the near term in response to Section 232 tariffs being applied to major import sources, but for this week at least, mills are focusing on firming up current price ranges.
US domestic HRC spot prices are now in the range of $44-$45 cwt. ($970-$992/mt or $880-$900/nt) ex-mill, reflecting a week-on-week increase of $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the low end of the range. With the trend pointing strongly upward, some sources say prices might eventually hit at peak of $50 cwt. ($1102/mt or $1000/nt), but it will largely depend on the fate of Section 232 tariffs.
For now, with only a few countries exempt from the tariffs (in exchange for quotas), traders are reportedly starting to “dip their toes back into the water” in search of import deals that make sense compared to US domestic pricing. However, traders are still wary of the overall environment of uncertainty. Tariff exemptions could be reapplied to countries such as Mexico and Canada—two major sources of US import HRC—at any time, especially as NAFTA renegotiations progress, which would make any import orders booked now unfeasibly expensive once they arrive.