The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) may have held steady since our last report a week ago, at $30-$32 ($661-$705/mt or $600-$640/nt), ex-mill, although some sources close to SteelOrbis continue to report hearing that there are “some quiet deals” that are available up to $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) below this range for volume buyers.
The week-on-week stability is consistent with SteelOrbis’ prior prediction that prices were “at or near bottom.” US HRC lead times are also stable week-on-week, at four to six weeks.
“Everything is just trucking along and we haven’t seen too many changes in the market in the past week,” a source said. “Prices are still stable and mills are still doing some back-room negotiations for larger-volume orders for select customers to help fill gaps in their order books. Outside of that, there isn’t too much to report.”