US HRC: Prices move down on lower offers

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell this week on lower offers and few spot deals as the market stalled.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest and south assessments both fell by $10/short ton (st) to $1,950/st ex-works. Lead times in the Midwest shrank to 5-7 weeks from 5-8 weeks.

One integrated mill reported selling HRC at $1,960/st, but multiple offers came in below that, with the offer range between $1,900/st and $2,000/st.

One Midwest mill reportedly lowered their HRC offers from $1,960/st to $1,920/st and were struggling to find customers for spot tons.

A service center located on-site of a mill reported having HRC substrate galvanized tons to sell, and being unable to find takers.

A major buyer reported their customers received cut-to-length sheet in the Houston area in the $1,740/st range, undercutting their ability to supply cut-to-length products sourced from domestic-bought coils at competitive prices. The buyer was mulling buying imports to remain competitive.

The outage at JSW's Mingo Junction, Ohio electric arc furnace (EAF) mill seems to have gone unnoticed in the market, with no sources polled being aware of the outage. The mill suffered a burn through on 26 September and would be down for 7-10 days for repairs, the company's chief executive Mark Bush told Argus on 30 September.

HRC import prices into Houston fell by $50/st to $1,500/st ddp on offers from Egypt, Turkey and Vietnam.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices fell by $10/st to $1,421/st. The spread is over three times as wide as the $381/st from a year ago.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment rose by $40/st to $2,240/st while the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) assessment increased by $40/st to $2,240/st.

Lead times for CRC slipped to 6-9 weeks from 6-10 weeks while HDG lead times shrank to 8-10 weeks from 9-13 weeks.

CRC prices rose on higher offers, while HDG prices increased on reported sales from one mill. Multiple HDG offers were reported at $2,200/st.

Most of the CME HRC Midwest futures market jumped substantially in the last week, with the market remaining in backwardation through the next five months. November futures pricing rose sharply by $125/st to $1,830/st, and jumped by $154/st to $1,668/st for December. The January futures price also jumped, increasing by $137/st to $1,546/st, with February pricing falling by $4/st to $1,416/st. March pricing is at $1,330/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US plate assessment rose by $30/st to $1,840/st delivered as prices maintained a healthy spread between mills booking November and Cleveland-Ciffs, which is into December. Lead times broadened to 5-10 weeks from 6-8 weeks.