Spot activity in the US domestic hollow structural section (HSS) market has been extremely quiet following mills' $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) price reduction. Just ahead of the Christmas holiday, Atlas Tube informed customers it would be reducing its published prices by $1.00 cwt., a move that other tubing mills rapidly followed in the coming days. Sources indicated that the drop was meant largely to realign market prices better with demand levels, which never fully absorbed mills' $4.50 cwt. ($99/mt or $90/nt) in price increases in the fall. Mills' official asking prices are now approximately $47.00-$47.50 cwt. ($1,036-$1,047/mt or $940-$950/nt) ex-mill, while spot transactions are taking place lower, at $46.00-$47.00 cwt. ($1,014-$1,036/mt or $920-$940/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Deal-making remains rampant in the tubing market, and sources told SteelOrbis that mills are quick to drop prices below official levels for the right order.
Market uncertainty is expected to continue for HSS until the flat rolled price trend becomes clearer, which is unlikely until at least next week when activity returns to "business as usual." If the flats market shows any signs of firming, however, the lowest HSS deals are likely to firm up quickly. Tubing mills are also concerned about imported tubing from Turkey expected to arrive in January and February, with tags around $39.00 cwt. ($860/mt or $780/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, significantly below current spots. Meanwhile, Turkish futures offers are even lower, in the range of $36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, unchanged in the last two weeks, and low enough for decent order activity.