Sources close to SteelOrbis say that despite what’s being described as “decent” demand in September, US domestic HSS prices have continued to tick downward.
As of earlier today, market sources have confirmed that US HRC prices have fallen to a level of $24-$25 cwt. ($529-$551/mt or $480-$500/nt) ex-mill. Coupled with still-soft US domestic scrap prices, weak HRC prices have been the driving force behind HSS spot market price corrections.
Sources have indicated that current spot market prices for US domestic HSS are hovering at $42.50 cwt. ($937/mt or $850/nt), ex-mill. Last week, prices were heard at $44.00 cwt. ($970/mt or $880/nt) ex-mill. Many speculate that the market “could come down another $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) before this is over.”
“At this point, anyone who shows up at a mill with an order in hand for some big tonnage can get a discount,” a source said. “The discounts are definitely there.”
Another source agreed. “The [structural tubing] market is really volatile. There is no market confidence right now,” he said. “Mills are desperately trying to hold onto their [profit] spread but with hot rolled coming down, they haven’t had much success in doing that. Right now, we’re not buying anything unless it’s already sold. If it’s not already spoken for we’re not buying. We’ve taken our inventories very low and we’re positioning ourselves to buy for when we think the market is going to come back up. Unfortunately, we don’t see any signs for recovery before 2020.”