AK Steel, Nucor, California Steel Industries, ArcelorMittal USA and NLML this week announced they would be raising hot rolled coil prices on all non-contractual business, effective immediately. Since that time, SteelOrbis has confirmed that US domestic spot market prices have firmed by approximately $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt), which brings the new average spot market transaction range to $19.00-$20.00 cwt. ($419-$441/mt or $380-$400/nt), ex-Midwest mill.
“People are still just buying what they need to fill holes until they figure out what the market is going to look like,” one source said. “Customers have not gotten scared to the extent that they’re booking large, extra tonnages.” The question as to whether the full increase will be accepted has yet to be answered, but sources say they’ll continue to keep an eye on the spot market.
It should further be noted that although the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced its affirmative preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of certain hot-rolled steel flat products from Brazil, and its negative preliminary determinations in the CVD investigations of imports of certain hot-rolled steel flat products the Republic of Korea (Korea), and the Republic of Turkey (Turkey), customers say they were not surprised by the preliminary ruling. “We expected Brazil would be assigned preliminary subsidy rates,” another sources said. “But the negative ruling against Korea and Turkey is not surprising, since this generally happens with mills in those countries.