US HRC: Prices continue to slide

Market: Metals
14/06/22

Declines in US hot rolled coil (HRC) prices extended their second month with short lead times, a limited spot market, and economic uncertainty weighing on the market .

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment fell by $66.75/short ton to $1,117.50/st, while the southern assessment fell by $65.50/st to $1,118.75/st. HRC prices have now fallen by 21pc since hitting a peak of $1,500/st between 5-19 April.

HRC lead times in the Midwest fell to 3-4 weeks from 3-6 weeks, with buyers limiting their spot buys.

Offers were heard in a range between $1,060-1,200/st.

Service centers said demand for their products remained relatively steady, with some reporting that some customer backlogs were shrinking somewhat because they were not being built out further into later in the year.

One service center was mulling an offer for over 1,000st that was priced at $975/st, but was unlikely to take it with the expectation of lower prices and broad availabilty in the future.

The Argus HRC import assessment into Houston was flat at $902/st ddp.

Last week the Argus pig iron cfr New Orleans assessment fell by $15/metric tonne (t) to $750/t.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices fell by 2.4pc to $561/st. A year ago the spread was $1,133/st and was still months from hitting the peak spread of $1,441/st reached in mid-September.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment plummeted by $121/st to $1,530/st, while the hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil assessment fell further by $143/st to $1,522/st.

Price offers for CRC and HDG were said to be as low as $1,500/st, with most offers in the $1,500-1,600/st range.

Lead times for CRC and HDG were flat at 6-7 weeks.

The CME HRC Midwest futures market was mostly flat in the last week. August futures fell by $15/st to $985/st, while September futures edged down by $11/st to $965/st. October futures slipped by $3/st to $935/st, and November pricing increased by $10/st to $925/st. December pricing rose by $24/st to $924/st, and January pricing is at $911/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment edged up by $6.25/st to $1,860/st as electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor kept its plate prices flat.

The plate delivered assessment was flat at $1,954.25/st. Lead times moved down to 3-6 weeks from 5-6 weeks.

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