Spot market prices within the US hollow structural sections tubing market have remained stable since our last report, at $56-$58 cwt. ($1,235-$1,279/mt or $1,120-$1,160/nt) ex-mill, but sources close to SteelOrbis are indicating that “the price range has some flexibility to it.”
“The service centers are still pretty busy, but the mills aren’t as busy as they’d like to be,” a source said.
Others agree, noting that mills have been increasingly open to making “quiet deals” as a means of padding their order books.
“There’s been some talk about the mills trying for a price increase,” another source said, “but the information I’m receiving seems to indicate that they’ll probably wait until December before they announce anything.”