Steady price levels and sluggish activity continue to define the US domestic wide flange beam market, with no indication of a change anytime soon.
Despite the fact that end-use demand for wide flange beams in the US is depressingly low right now, US mills have still stood firm with current asking prices, not accepting any proposed deals beneath the current price level of $42.00 cwt. ($926/mt or $840/nt) ex-Midwest mill (for ASTM A992, W10 x 10, W18 x 6, and W24 x 7)--reflecting no change from prices last month (prices for September shipments will also remain neutral). However, the pressure of low demand has become apparent farther down the supply chain, and sources tell SteelOrbis that deals between service centers and end-users have become more frequent.
This might explain why, even in the current demand climate, service center shipments have increased while inventories have decreased. According to the latest MSCI Metals Activity Report, daily beam shipments in July bumped to 11,200 nt from 10,100 nt in June--notable for being the highest daily level since November 2008. Additionally, month-ending inventories fell to 569,000 nt in July from 578,800 nt the month prior. Service centers seem to be doing whatever they can to move product, even if it means squeezing their already-tight profit margins. Sources tell SteelOrbis that the situation for August has been much like July, if not a little worse, so August data will likely show a similar trend.
As would be expected in such a market, import inquiry is so dead quiet that current offers are all but nonexistent. According to one West Coast distributor, traders are not able to put together an offer for imported beams that is remotely doable--last month, Korean imports were heard at $45.00-$46.00 cwt. ($992-$1,014/mt or $900-$920/nt) DDP load truck in West Coast ports, and no new offers at a lower level have been heard of recently.
Overall, the downtrend in import activity for the US WFB market has been ongoing for months, as evidenced by import data from the US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA). According to SIMA license data, the US has only imported 26,714 mt of WFB so far in August, compared to 40,055 mt in July (preliminary census data) and 61,782 mt in June. Even among specific products, the trend is pronounced. August totals of US I-beam imports has only reached 6,752 mt compared to 14,168 in July, whereas H-beam imports have fallen to 5,455 mt in August compared to 9,945 mt in July.
However, it is notable to point out that one major source of imported I-beams has remained relatively stable in terms of tonnage levels (Luxembourg, with 3,286 mt in August and 3,630 mt in July), while Mexico's shipments increased month-on-month (2,015 mt in August from 1,281 in July) and Spain, the number one source in July (with 8,422 mt) fell to the bottom of the list this month with a mere 26 mt sent so far. H-beam levels tell a similar story: Luxembourg remained a stable source from July to August (with 9,945 mt and 5,455 mt, respectively), while Spain fell from the number one source in July with 4,919 mt to third place with 681 mt.