Falling US domestic HRC prices, coupled with an expectation that US domestic scrap prices will settle lower in October than initially suspected, has sentiment within the US domestic HSS tubing market trending “less than optimistic.”
“Price are soft, there’s no doubt about it,” a source said. “But demand is decent. Our bookings have been relatively strong.” Current prices are down week-over-week, from an average of $46 cwt. ($1,014/mt or $920/nt) ex-mill, to an average of $44.50 cwt. ($981/mt or $890/nt) ex-mill.
“We expect to see the book number at mills at $43.50 cwt. ($959/mt or $870/nt) ex-mill much sooner than later,” another source said, adding that he has already heard of some volume buys taking place at $42 cwt. ($926/mt or $840/nt) ex-mill, “which is a sign that additional softening is on the horizon.”