Yesterday, SteelOrbis reported that US CRC prices had begun to soften. That trend, sources note, is not unique to CRC, but also extends to the rest of the flat rolled steel marketplace.
One source close to SteelOrbis said that while some initially expected that the market would trend mostly sideways throughout the remainder of 2017, that the suspicion that Hurricane Harvey would have a positive impact on domestic steel pricing has not come to fruition.
“Prior to Harvey, many of us expected to see a downtrend in pricing and it seems that the initial forecast was more correct, as Harvey is having an amazingly little impact on prices,” a source said, adding that the recent downtrends in Chinese HRC, and global raw materials prices, have had a “psychological impact” on US pricing as well.
At current, US domestic HRC spot market prices have softened by approximately $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) on the bottom end, which brings the current average spot market price transaction range to $29.00-$31.50 cwt. ($639-$694/mt or $580-$630/nt), ex-mill, although one SteelOrbis source confirmed booking an order for “significant tonnage” at $28.00 cwt. ($617/mt or $560/nt), ex-mill.
“None of the mills want to cut back production capacity and with raw materials costs being where they are, they can be flexible on their prices but still make money,” another source said.
Looking offshore, import HRC spot market prices in the US domestic market from Egypt and Serbia have inched down by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since our last report a week ago, which brings the current range to $30-$31 cwt. ($661-$683/mt or $600-$620/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports. However, since the bulk of US-based buyers can do better at US domestic mills, interest in booking offshore is increasingly weak.