US flats prices continue to rise as mills begin third round of increases

While other US domestic flats mills have not officially followed Severstal North America's third round of price hikes--this time for about $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt), bringing asking prices to $37.00 cwt. ($816/mt or $740/nt) on hot rolled coil (HRC) and $42.50 cwt. ($937/mt or $850/nt) on cold rolled coil (CRC)--sources tell SteelOrbis that the other mills are unofficially pushing for it. And with demand levels still steady and mills already taking orders for February delivery, spot prices are on the rise.

In the last week, domestic HRC spot prices have firmed about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) to $33.00-$35.00 cwt. ($728-$772/mt or $660-$700/nt) ex-Midwest mill while domestic CRC spot prices are still $38.00-$40.00 cwt. ($838-$882/mt or $760-$800/nt), unchanged from last week, although activity on the lower end of the range is quickly fading. Industry insiders tell SteelOrbis that they have been making a few hedge buys in the last week, as another increase in domestic scrap prices anticipated for January will likely give mills more leverage to push spot prices even higher throughout the next month.

Activity is much quieter on the import side, following significant bookings of Russian HRC earlier this month. According to trader sources, a substantial amount of Russian HRC is expected to hit US Gulf Coast ports in March, as well as higher levels of Russian, Chinese and Indian CRC as well.