Market sources have confirmed that US domestic HSS tubing prices are still holding at $46 cwt. ($1,014/mt or $920/nt) ex-mill, although as with last week, it’s been heard that at least one mill is still selling $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) below that price point.
US HRC prices, which continue to hover at or slightly below $30 cwt. ($661/mt or $600/nt), ex-mill, are still mostly stable, sources note. And while flats mills had hoped to push prices higher, upward momentum in the HRC market has stalled. It’s further speculated that current HRC prices will not hold and will begin to erode in the upcoming weeks.
This, coupled with SteelOrbis’ assessment that US scrap prices will trend downward by at least $10/gt ($10/mt), across all grades during the September buy cycle, has many speculation that HSS prices are unlikely to climb further.