US HRC: Prices rise as scarcity continues

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continued their march upwards.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC index rose by $20/short ton (st) to $755/st ex-works Midwest this week, while lead times extended slightly to 8-9 weeks from 7-8 weeks. The spot price is the highest since March 2019.

Lead times grew as HRC availability in January declined, with many buyers pessimistic about their ability to secure tons in the beginning of the new year due to a lack of supply.

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor was heard to have leaked pricing of $840/st onto the market for January, although one person said it did not appear there would be tons available to be sold in January from the steelmaker.

Integrated steelmaker ArcelorMittal was said to be suffering production issues at its Burns Harbor mill in Indiana because of a Covid-19 outbreak at the facility, while the local union at its Cleveland mill also confirmed it was dealing with an outbreak. The company did not comment on whether steel production was being reduced from the outbreaks.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices was $491.61/st, 4.2pc higher than the spread of $471.61/st from the week before and 48pc higher than the $331.71/st recorded a year ago.

The domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment rose by $3.75/st to $910/st ex-works, and the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil assessment increased by $5/st to $915/st. Lead times for CRC and HDG were flat at 12 weeks.

HRC imports into Houston increased by $20/st to $740/st as global prices continue to rise.

The CME HRC futures market posted massive gains in the last week, with January futures jumping up by $62/st to $820/st and February prices rocketing up by $81/st to $805/st. March prices increased by $97/st to $800/st, while April prices jumped by $76/st to $757/st. May futures prices rose by $63/st to $740/st, while June prices were at $735/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US plate assessment rose by $11/st to $706.75/st on the week as lead times increased to 8 weeks.