The average spot market price transaction range for US domestic hollow structural section (HSS) tubing is still holding in the range of $58-$60 cwt. ($1,279-$1,323/mt or $1,160-$1,200/nt), ex-mill, but sources close to SteelOrbis say that market players are keeping close tabs on the flat rolled steel market.
“Hot rolled prices are coming down and there is already talk that the flats mills are wanting to try to shore that up,” a source said. “If the [flats] mills are successful with their price increases that will eventually trickle down to tubing.”
Another source agrees that while prices could begin to firm during the last two months of the year should a flat rolled price increase be announced and accepted, in the short term, it's speculated that US HSS prices could decline a bit further. That speculation is consistent SteelOrbis' reporting from last week, when we noted that some market players suspected that prices could soften another $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) before the slide is over.
“I think prices could soften a bit throughout the rest of October and that the market won’t bottom out until the end of October or early November,” a second source said. “But if HRC starts to firm the HSS downtrend won’t last long.”