The US domestic HSS market may have been speculating that US domestic tube mills would try to push out another round of price increases, but mills have yet to make a second announcement. This leaves the most commonly reported spot price transaction range stable at $34.50-$35.50 cwt. ($760-$783/mt or $690-$710/nt), ex-Midwest mill.
It’s further believed that the lack of a second increase announcement may be due to a leveling of prices within the US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) market, as spot prices in that marketplace have remained mostly steady for the past two weeks.
Concerns about HSS oversupply are still on the minds of many, sources say, as are concerns that if US domestic scrap prices trend down during the month of March, that spot prices for downstream products, including HRC and HSS, could be vulnerable. This, according to another Midwest-based source, has many buyers trending cautions with their inventory levels.