Spot prices within the US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) market have ticked up an additional $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) since our last report a week ago. This comes in addition to last week’s $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) that was seen within the market after US domestic flats mills announced they would be raising spot market prices, effective immediately.
Sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that the current average range is trending between $19.50-$20.50 cwt. ($430-$452/mt or $390-$510/nt), ex-Midwest mill. The average lead time for HRC has trended out modestly, sources say, to approximately four weeks.
Other sources note that while last week’s increase announcement has lent itself to modest upticks in order activity, ex-mill orders are hardly robust. “Yes mills have seen an increase in orders but it’s definitely not anything that’s worth writing home about. All in all the hot rolled market is still fairly depressed compared to CRC and Galvanized.”