As previously anticipated, US HSS tubing mills have officially revised their prices downward.
For the past several weeks, although the “official” spot market price range had been trending at $115-$119 cwt. ($2,535-$2,624/mt or $2,300-$2,380/nt), FOB mill, deals as low as $109 cwt. ($2,403/mt or $2,180/nt), FOB mill, were increasingly available based on tonnage.
Sources close to SteelOrbis have also been expecting mills to revise their “official” book price downward, due sharp revisions in hot rolled coil prices.
“The [tube] mills are quoting aggressively for certain jobs, and with HRC prices coming down again today, I’d imagine that the [tube] mills will come out with an official downward revision within the next few days,” a source said on January 5. “At this point it appears that the HSS mills are trying to hold onto their margins for as long as they can, but since sheet prices keep ticking down, [high HSS prices] are unlikely to last much longer.”
Today, prices have been revised to $108-$109 cwt. ($2,381-$2,403/mt or $2,160-$2,180/nt), FOB mill.
“There’s still quite a bit of slack between HSS and HRC prices, so I imagine this is just the start,” a source said.