In the aftermath of mills’ most recent price increase announcement, US HSS prices are now trending at $107-$108 cwt. ($2,359-$2,381/mt or $2,140-$2,160/nt), FOB mill, against a range of $99-$100/cwt. ($2,183-$2,205/mt or $1,980-$2,000/nt), FOB mill, early last week.
Although Welded Tube of Canada led the charge, domestic producers, including Atlas, Nucor, EXL Tube, and Bull Moose were quick to follow. What’s interesting, is that while most mills announced at $8.00 cwt. ($176/mt or $160/nt), Nucor and Atlas announced at $6.25 cwt. ($138/mt or $125/nt). For now, however, it appears as if the larger increase has acceptance within the market.
As far as when the months-long pricing uptrend will start to slow down, close to SteelOrbis believe that US HSS prices will not stabilize until domestic HRC prices stop climbing. At current, US HRC prices are hovering at +/- $85 cwt. ($1,874/mt or $1,700/nt), FOB mill, against a range of range of $82-$83 cwt. ($1,808-$1,830/mt or $1,640-$1,660/nt), FOB mill, last Friday.
Demand within the HSS market remains strong, sources add, noting that some are concerned that downstream projects that can be delayed, may be delayed, due to the still-rising cost of steel and out of concern that currently seen “record high price points will inevitably fall off.”