The most commonly heard spot market price transaction range for US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) may be stable week-over-week, at $37-$38 cwt. ($816-$838/mt or $740-$760/nt) ex-mill, but some sources close to SteelOrbis have reported being able to book tons up to $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) below the above-stated range.
Average lead times are at about four weeks, sources note, adding that mills’ willingness to negotiate stems out of a desire to fill their order books. Overall order activity is slowing, which is consistent with what tends to happen in advance of the year-end holiday season.
In terms of imports, trader sources have confirmed that offers for import HRC in the US domestic market from Korea, Egypt and Serbia are still being heard in the range of $34-$35 cwt. ($750-$772/mt or $680-$700/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, while offers from Mexico are still trending between $36-$37 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) FOB Houston. As with last week, buyers are still wary about booking larger volumes of tonnage from offshore mills due to still-present price volatility in the US domestic market.