The most commonly reported spot market transaction range for US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) has softened by an additional $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) since our last report a week ago, bringing the current average spot market transaction range to $19.50-$20.50 cwt. ($429-$452/mt or $390-$410/nt), ex-Midwest mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that deals slightly below this range are available for large-sized buyers.
Part of the decline relates to soft US domestic scrap price, part of this relates to inventory overhang. HRC inventories continue to trend high throughout the US, sources say, and continued import arrivals are not helping. Data from the US Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance shows that for the month of October, US import HRC tons totaled 323,520 mt (license data), which is approximately 70,000 mt higher than September import tonnages, which totaled 252,749 mt (census data.) “Many believe the HRC market is at or near bottom, but until the bottom becomes clear, buyers will continue to be wary of booking orders from mills, especially since they can get what they need from distributors, who have plenty of HRC in stock.”