Pricing within the US HRC market may be trending soft, but for now, US hollow structural sections tubing prices are holding stable.
Current spot market prices are still being heard in the range of $53-$55 cwt. ($1,168-$1,213/mt or $1,060-$1,100/nt), ex-mill; price points have been stable since late December.
Sources close to SteelOrbis note that construction markets are still robust, which is helping with demand. However, whether end-user demand will be able to offset price softening within the US HRC market has yet to be known. “There’s a lot of new capacity coming online for hot rolled, so we’re still trying to sort out whether this is going to place downward pressure on tube pricing,” a source said.
Year-over-year prices, however, continue to show improvement. In early January 2018, SteelOrbis reported that the average transaction price for US HSS tubing was taking place at approximately $49 cwt. ($1,080/mt or $980/nt), ex-mill.