This week’s situation within the US domestic flat rolled steel market is largely similar to what we’ve reported for the past 2 months: short lead times, sluggish demand, and buyers’ wariness of stocking up amidst “uncertain” market conditions are continuing to impact the market.
Current HRC prices have remained “relatively neutral” in the past seven days, and are still being heard in the range of at $34.50-$37.50 cwt. ($761-$826/mt or $690-$750/nt) FOB mill. This aligns with SteelOrbis' prediction of late-August, which predicted that HRC prices would hover throughout the final months of the year.
US CRC prices, on the other hand, have softened by $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) on the top end since our last report a week ago, and are now trending at $49.50-$52.50 cwt. ($1,091-$1,157/mt or $990-$1,050/nt) FOB mill. However, deals below this range have been reported within the marketplace.
“A few mills that have maintenance outages, and even with that lost capacity, supply is outpacing demand,” a source said. “Outside of yet another major black swan event, and considering everything the world has gone through in the past three years, we certainly don’t need another one, I don’t see a whole lot changing between now and the end of the year.”