US domestic plate spot prices have trended neutral once again since our last report two weeks ago, with transaction prices having remained approximately $2.00 cwt. to $3.00 cwt. ($44/mt to $66/mt or $40/nt to $60/nt) below mills' asking price for the past four weeks.
At the current time, plate mills have not announced new pricing for July, and it's likely that maintaining pricing status quo will trend through the month.
For now, though, the forecast for US domestic plate remains neutral at $42.00 cwt. to $44.00 cwt. ($926/mt to $970/mt or $840/nt to $880) FOB mill, with a potential $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) softening taking place in the beginning of the third quarter.
While some feel plate mills have a strong probability of being able to maintain current spot pricing levels, others are relaying concerns that the "summer lull" in terms of order levels will allow pricing levels to slip. At the current time, however, pricing has held strong and lead times remain unchanged at 12-15 weeks. And although the bulk of orders are being placed mill-direct by state contractors for infrastructure projects, that's not to say that plate demand in the private sector is without activity, as service centers continue to report that inquiries placed several months back are now coming into fruition. (you say "summer lull" but then say more bookings are now taking place than months before. Maybe, some of the older inquiries are being booked but current demand is down, making everything neutral?) "The business is still out there," commented one purchasing manager. "We just have to try a little harder to grab what we can."
Shifting focus offshore, import offers out of Asia, while still rumored, have not yet fallen to such a price point to garner interest from traders. Outside of that, import offers have continued to remain relatively quiet, with import cut-to-length plate imports during the month of May (51,101 mt, license data) having decreased month-on-month from levels seen in April (55,002 mt, preliminary census data).
Canada was the most significant importer of cut-to-length plate during the month of May, at 16,393 mt (license data). The largest offshore importer for this product during this time period was Brazil, at 7,844 mt.