US domestic hollow structural section (HSS)
tubing mills continue to try to push prices higher due to the ongoing upticks in US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) pricing.
American Tube Manufacturing, Atlas Tube, Bull Moose Tube, ExlTube, Independence Tube, Hanna Steel Corp. and Southland Tube have all announced $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt) price increase since our last report two weeks ago; the increases have been attributed to recent price hikes for US HRC. The announcement came on the heels of a previous price increase that was set to take hold on Monday Apr. 11.
On April 11, prices for US domestic HSS
tubing firmed to approximately $36.00 cwt. ($794/mt or $720/nt), ex-Midwest mill. Since that time, two US HSS mills have raised their spot market prices to a firm $39.00 cwt. ($860/mt or $780/nt); a third has indicated they won’t be implementing the $3.00 cwt. price increase until May 2, while two others have said they won’t implement the increase until May 9.
Some buyers, however, have expressed concern that the recent run-up in US domestic scrap and HRC prices will be short lived and are thus worried that any restocking they do on HSS
tubing now, at current and rising prices, will leave them “upside down once it arrives. The last thing any of us want to do is rush out, stock up and have prices falling down again by the time our orders arrive,” one source said.