The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) has firmed by $1.00 cwt ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the top end since our last report a week ago, which brings the current average spot market price transaction range to $31.50-$33.50 cwt. ($694-$739/mt or $630-$670/nt), ex-Mill. Some customers, however, say that mills “are still pushing to get prices to a firm $34.00 cwt. ($750/mt or $680/nt).”
Sources close to SteelOrbis have indicated that current lead times are trending “somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks, depending on the mill.”
Demand for US HRC continues to trend strong due to still-steady demand from the US energy pipe sector.
In terms of imports, for the month of February, the most significant offshore sources of US import HRC was Japan, at 18,434 mt (license data) and Korea, at 17,039 mt (license data). In February 2016, Japan shipped 5,963 mt (census data) of HRC to US ports, whereas Korean mills shipped 66,964 mt (census data) of HRC to US ports.