US HRC: Prices edge down on lower offers

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices edged downward this week on lower offers and a quiet spot market.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest and southern assessments both slipped by $5/short ton to $1,835/st.

Sales of $1,880/st for December were reported as well as offers as low as $1,750/st. Some assessments were as low as $1,720/st.

Lead times in the Midwest expanded to 5-7 weeks from 4-7 weeks.

The level of customer inquiries broadly dropped off as the US market approaches the Thanksgiving holiday next week.

All sources reported buying only on contract, with most keeping to minimum levels in an attempt to control inventories. One service center reported that customers are not meeting their planned consumption levels, leaving the service center with high-priced inventory to offload.

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor is taking its Gallatin, Kentucky flat-rolled mill down on 23 November for its 25-day outage to integrate its 1.4mn st/yr expansion.

HRC import prices into Houston rose to $1,460/st ddp from $1,400/st on higher overall offers, though one offer from South Korea was heard as low as $1,370/st.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices fell by 1.1pc to $1,306/st from $1,320/st in the prior week. The spread is more than double compared to the $472/st from a year ago.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment fell by $15/st to $2,145/st while the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) assessment fell by $15/st to $2,160/st. Pricing for value-add products have remained elevated,maintaining the spread with HRC above $300/st. The market generally prices the HRC to value-add spread at $200/st.

Lead times for CRC and HDG both increased to 8-9 weeks from 7-8 weeks.

Most of the CME HRC Midwest futures market all increased in the last week. The January futures price were basically flat, at $1,560/st compared to $1,561/st in the prior week, while February pricing fell by $7/st to $1,475/st. March pricing was down by $15/st to $1,375/st, while April pricing fell by $15/st to $1,310/st. May futures pricing is $1,284/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US plate assessment was flat at $1,880/st delivered. Lead times rose to 7-8 weeks from 5-7 weeks as the market continues to wait for a potential price increase announcement by steelmakers this week.