US flat steel prices were steady to lower as demand for finished steel products continues to flag, and a holiday shortened schedule kept many market participants away from their desks, industry contacts told SteelOrbis this week.
Market insiders added that the combination of low US demand for finished steel products and an outlook for flat to lower July scrap prices was also keeping spot market pricing range bound to lower while expectations for lower July scrap was keeping many participants away from new spot market transactions altogether.
Several market contacts indicated we could be nearing the bottom for flat steel market pricing, following nearly three months of steadily declining prices, even as inventories bulged.
“I think we’re at the low point for domestic prices,” said one SteelOrbis flat steel contact. “Import numbers for flat steel are not dropping, and I think we’re about as low as we can go now on domestic steel prices. There are large chunks of import material people bought on speculation that are available right now, so inventories are high.”
Another contact said, “Price bottoms are now at least getting closer versus further away after 11 straight weeks of declines.”
Domestic HRC prices are discussed unchanged on the week in thin trade at $670-$680/st ($739-$750/mt). Lead times for HRC are last discussed at 3-4 weeks for delivery, indicating markets are well supplied and mill inventories adequate heading through the first week of July, market insiders said.
On the production side, July 1 saw steelmaker Nucor once again reduce its Consumer Spot Price (CSP), the price it charges for hot rolled coils across all of its producing mills. The CSP was reduced $10/st ($11/mt) to $670/st ($739/mt).
The Nucor CSP decline continues a pattern established in early April, when the steel maker announced the release of its CSP. Since the initial CSP release on April 8, the weekly spot price offer for hot-rolled coils has declined 19.3 percent from an initial offer of $830/st ($915/mt).
In other flat steel grades, CRC is assessed at $1,000-$1,010/st, ($1,102-$1,113/mt), off from last week’s $1,020-$1,030/st ($1,125-$1,136/mt) weekly assessment. In coated products, HDG is discussed in continued light trade at $895-$905/st ($997-$998/mt), versus last week’s $940-$945/st ($1,036-$1,042/mt) delivered to customer range.
Lead times for CRC and HDG products continue at 4-7 weeks, insiders say, signaling markets remain well supplied with mill inventories mostly adequate to meet current requirements heading through the first week of July and the culmination of the July scrap buy cycle.
