Spot prices in the US domestic plate market have dropped modestly in the last couple weeks amid a general reluctance to place orders. Sources tell SteelOrbis that overall, demand levels are relatively decent. Additionally, the glut of imports that dragged spots down last year has subsided drastically and domestic mills' only real competition at the moment is other mills. But because many buyers are only making purchases for what is immediately needed, some mills have been heard cutting prices. While the general spot range remains between $36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) ex-Midwest mill, most transactions are now trending toward the lower side of the range with select deals heard just under $36.00 cwt. ex-mill. At least for the time being, though, no major price slide is anticipated either.
As mentioned, import competition is minimal right now, as current plate futures offers out of Turkey are only about $2.00-$3.00 cwt. ($44-$66/mt or $40-$60/nt) below US domestic spots. US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) license data also show that 45,186 mt of cut-length plate arrived in the US in January, and 53,382 mt (preliminary census data) arrived in December. The totals are a far cry from over 100,000 mt arriving in most months during the second half of 2012, and given minimal import activity the last few months, spring arrivals are not anticipated to be especially high.