ArcelorMittal USA, California Steel Industries and NLMK USA this week all announced they would be raising spot market prices for
US domestic cold rolled coil (
CRC), effective immediately.
AMUSA said they would be raising prices by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) while CSI and NLMK told customers they would implement a $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) effective with all new bookings.
Current spot market prices for
US CRC, however, are once again unchanged and are still being heard in the approximate range of $41-$42 cwt. ($904-$926/mt or $820-$840/nt), ex-Midwest mill. Numerous sources close to SteelOrbis have noted that deals toward the lower end of that range are “just about gone,” adding that the bulk of transactions are “taking place at the $42 cwt. level.”
The question of whether market players accept the latest price increase has yet to be seen. Opinions are currently divided; on one hand, domestic scrap prices trended down in June and are expected to fall once again in July. The summer months are also generally slow within the
US domestic steel industry, as many take time off to vacation with their families.
On the other hand, the flow of imports into
US ports has been cut drastically due to the
CRC trade case. This week, the
US ITC ruled the
US steel industry was materially injured and/or threatened by unfairly traded
CRC from both China and Japan. In May, the
US DOC set the final dumping margin against
CRC imports from Japan at 71.35 percent; the final AD margin against imports from Chinese steel producers was set at 265.79 percent. Further, the assigned countervailing duty (CVD) margin of 256.55 percent against Chinese
CRC will stand.