US HRC prices have now softened for the second week in a row, with prices down by another $1.00 cwt. in the past seven days. As such, this week’s average transaction range is trending at $93-$96 cwt. ($2,050-$2,116/mt or $1,860-$1,920/nt), FOB mill. Current prices are at their lowest level since the first week of August.
CRC prices, however, are still trending steady. Similar to last week, the most commonly heard spot price transaction range is still trending at $106-$110 cwt. ($2,337-$2,425/mt or $2,120-$2,200/nt), FOB mill, although most sources report buying spot tons in the middle of that range.
Sources polled are still mixed when it comes to their views on the market. Whereas some believe that the downtrend in HRC is “barely a blip on the radar, considering that prices are still well above where they were during the first week of the year,” others feel that sheet prices may have finally crested, and that the price softening seen in the past two weeks is likely to continue.
Also interesting is this week’s announcement from Cleveland Cliffs, regarding plans to accelerate planned outages that were previously scheduled for 2022. The maintenance outages at their Burns Harbor, Indiana, and Dearborn, Michigan mills will now take place before the end of this year.
“Whether this is truly tied to them thinking that automotive is going to bounce back quickly next year and they want to get the maintenance out of the way now, or whether this is tied to what appears to be some softness in the market and the outages are an excuse to tighten Q4 supply, well that’s a question that’s above my pay grade,” another source said.
SteelOrbis sources in other market segments say they believe that HRC prices are unlikely to hold on. “If you look at what’s going on in the structural tubing market, at least one of the mills is starting to make aggressive deals, and it’s our belief that the tube mills will make an official downward adjustment to their pricing in the not-too-distant future,” a source said. “Availability has improved, hot rolled prices appear to be softening, and I think a lot of us want to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the market. No one is going to want to be holding high-price inventory once this thing starts to turn.”