US HRC: Prices drop as mills chase spot orders

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices resumed their declines as mills chased spot orders amid lower demand.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment dropped by $88/short ton to $1,512/st, while the southern assessment fell by $84/st to $1,516/st.

Buyers reported spending as little as $1,480/st, while sold prices rose as high as $1,600/st.

Lead times in the Midwest fell to 3-4 weeks from 4-5 weeks, reflecting low spot demand and limited contract buying.

Service centers are currently destocking their inventories of high-priced steel, which built up during the last few months of 2021 as mills caught up with production backlogs.

While mills asked around for more spot business, they were not offering up prices without tons to back them. Most service centers were content to generally buy to their minimum levels on their contracts.

HRC import prices into Houston increased by $15/st to $1,215/st ddp.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices dropped by 8.2pc compared to the prior week to $983/st on the drop in HRC pricing. The spread is expected to widen in the next week somewhat, with most locations across the US dropping scrap prices by $60/gross ton. A year ago the spread was $783/st.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment slipped by $10/st to $2,050/st while the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) assessment dropped by $120/st to $1,930/st on lower offers, with some as low as $1,800/st.

Lead times for CRC rose to seven weeks from 6-7 weeks while HDG lead times fell to 5-6 weeks from 6-7 weeks.

The CME HRC Midwest futures market was mixed in the last week. February pricing dropped by $74/st to $1,255/st, while March pricing plummeted by $119/st to $1,135/st. April pricing fell by $100/st to $1,090/st, and May futures pricing dropped by $105/st to $1,060/st. June pricing was down by $99/st to $1,025/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US plate assessment fell by $28/st to $1,850/st delivered. Lead times fell to 4-5 weeks from 4-7 weeks.