US HRC prices have continued their upward trend, but buyers continue to wonder how long higher price points will hold. The spot market price range has widened by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the top end, in the past seven days, from $27.50-$28.50 cwt. ($606-$628/mt or $550-$570/nt), ex-mill, to $27.50-$29.50 cwt.($606-$650/mt or $570-$590/nt), ex-mill.
Lead times, sources note, have pushed out, but this is less about increased end-use demand within the marketplace, and more about buyers rushing out to buy because they felt prices had bottomed. Higher scrap prices in August are likely to help keep prices up in the short term, however, in the absence of a shift in market fundamentals, prices are likely to revise downward, again, in the upcoming months.