The Trump administration last week announced it would implement a 25 percent tariff against US import hollow structural section tubing from Mexico and Canada, and as such, the cost to purchase imported HSS from Canada is now 25 percent higher.
Sources close to SteelOrbis have indicated they believe this will lead to a flurry of order activity with domestic mills, which in turn will lead to increased lead times and higher spot market pricing.
Sources also speculate that import arrivals for hot rolled coil will taper by “as much as 30 percent in the upcoming months,” which could also lead to increased US HRC pricing.
“This whole thing is crazy. Anyone who isn’t putting escalation clauses in their bids right now, well, not doing so would be flat out stupid,” one source said. “Of the people I talk to, a lot of sellers are indicating that offer pricing will expire at end of business that same day. Everything is so volatile right now it’s hard to process.”
Current HSS prices are still holding at $56-$57 cwt. ($1235-$1257/mt or $1120-$1140/nt), ex-mill. One buyer said that if prices do go up by the measure that’s expected, he’ll have “a really hard time swallowing the fact that replacement costs will be over $60 cwt. ($1323/mt or $1200/nt).”