Last week, SteelOrbis reported that in the wake of US flats mills’ third announced price increase, it was widely suspected that a second HSS tubing increase announcement was imminent. Yet today, seven days later, a second increase attempt has yet to emerge.
Some believe that the failure to announce might be linked to happenings in the US HRC market; sources say the upward price momentum for domestic hot rolled coil may be starting to lose steam.
“We were expecting the [tube] mills would have announced by now, but an increase might still be imminent, especially if scrap settles up in August,” a source said.
For now, prices are holding stable, at $44-$46 cwt. ($970-$1,014/mt or $880-$920/nt), ex-mill, although as with last week, some sources are indicating that mills still want to get prices up to $47 cwt. ($1,036/mt or $940/nt).