US HRC: Market quiet, prices flat

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices remained flat as the market slowed during over the holiday weekend and participants continued to evaluate demand.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest and southern assessments both remained flat at $1,500/st.

HRC lead times in the Midwest fell to 4-5 weeks from 6-7 weeks, as mills were said to still have mid-May availability at the earliest. Some were said to be starting to be slowly moving into early June.

Some HRC offers were heard as low as $1,460/st, with most at $1,500/st.

Demand is steady but many customers and service centers were only buying for immediate needs as they work to turn inventories.

Automotive producers General Motors (GM) and Toyota both announced production cuts for April, with GM restating a full-size truck plant in Indiana this week after a two week shutdown. Toyota will cut the production of 47,000 vehicles in North America during April. The continued reductions cut into finished steel consumption and prime scrap production.

Last week Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine announced it would sell an 80pc stake in its 2.2mn st/yr hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, to global steelmaker ArcelorMittal. The purchase would allow ArcelorMittal to supply HBI to its new electric arc furnace (EAF) being built at its joint venture mill in Calvert, Alabama, and its Dofasco mill in Canada.

HRC import prices into Houston fell by $46/st to $1,497/st ddp as import offers into the US were limited. Prices ranged widely on high freight costs and global prices.

The spread between #1 busheling delivered US Midwest consumer and pig iron cfr New Orleans fell by 16pc to $231/st.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices fell by 4.1pc to $824/st. A year ago the spread was $862/st.

The spread between pig iron cfr New Orleans and Midwest and southern HRC prices increased by 1.5pc to $593/st.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil assessments remained flat at $1,900/st.

Lead times for CRC fell to 5-7 weeks from eight weeks while HDG lead times dropped to 5-6 weeks from 7-8 weeks.

The CME HRC Midwest futures market fell in the last week but at lower rates than the previous week as sentiment continued to weaken. June pricing slipped by $5/st to $1,430/st, while July future pricing fell by $35/st to $1,370/st. August futures were down by $36/st to $1,330/st, and September futures fell by $24/st to $1,312/st. October futures dropped by $48/st to $1,250/st, while November pricing is at $1,240/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment rose by $18.75/st to $1,928.75/st, as was the plate delivered assessment slipped by $5.50/st to $2,007.50/st. Lead times fell by 5-6 weeks to 6-7 weeks.