US HRC market holds steady

Little, if anything has changed within the US domestic and import hot rolled coil (HRC) markets since our last report a week ago, as ex-Midwest mill spot pricing continues to hold on par at $33.00-$34.00 cwt. ($727-$750/mt or $660-$680/nt), while futures offers from Turkey and Brazil have also remained neutral. “The market is slowly sturdy,” according to one Midwest-service center source.  “Mills are trying to book at the higher end of that range on smaller orders but they’re making deals slightly below that range for their largest customers on an as-needed basis.” 

In terms of imports, although September 16 data released by the Steel Monitoring Import and Analysis (SIMA) show that the most significant offshore importer for the month of August was Russia, which came in at 32,912 mt (license data), this is likely to change in the upcoming months.  Traders continue to say they’re reluctant to book Russian HRC due to political volatility in that region of the world, and further note that Brazilian mills have “officially arrived at the party” and are actively trying to gain US market share.