As predicted in our last report a week ago, US domestic flat rolled spot prices have continued their drift downward. Sources tell SteelOrbis that while some mills have been touting hot rolled coil (HRC) lead times as long as four weeks, orders placed in the last couple weeks are being delivered faster than anticipated (in as little as two weeks), indicating weakness in mill order books. The high end of last week's HRC spot price range has eroded, with most activity now between $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($728-750/mt or $660-$680/nt) ex-Midwest mill. However, some deals have been heard for about $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) lower.
Since US buyers anticipate that there is still room for prices to move lower, even though the May scrap trend is now pointing to an increase, there is no rush to place orders, and "if you do need material, there is no shortage of suppliers," according to service center sources. Expectedly, import activity is sluggish considering the similarity between US domestic spot prices and import offer prices for late summer delivery. Many in the US are also already sitting on heavy import inventories due to the 220,716 mt (license data) of hot rolled sheets that arrived in the US with tags as low as $31.00-$32.00 cwt. ($683-$705/mt or $620-$640/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic | ||||
| HRC | $33.00-$34.00 | $728-$750 | $660-$680 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. on high end |
| CRC | $38.00-$39.00 | $838-$860 | $760-$780 | neutral |
| China* | ||||
| CRC | $39.50-$40.50 | $871-$893 | $790-$810 | neutral |
| Mexico** | ||||
| HRC | $33.00-$34.00 | $728-$750 | $660-$680 | neutral |
| CRC | $38.50-$39.50 | $849-$871 | $770-$790 | neutral |
| Russia* | ||||
| HRC | $32.00-$33.00 | $705-$728 | $640-$660 | neutral |
**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston