US HRC: Prices drop, market limited

US hot rolled coil (HRC) prices took their largest fall today since the beginning of February as mills continued to lower prices and buyers pushed for steeper discounts.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment fell by $58.25/short ton (st) to $1,363.25/st, while the southern assessment fell by $57.75/st to $1,363.75/st. HRC prices have fallen by 9.2pc since hitting their peak of $1,500/st between 5-19 April.

HRC lead times in the Midwest were flat at 3-4 weeks, with most flat-rolled steel mills reported to be in mid-June.

Mills reported selling between $1,360-1,450/st, with most sales between $1,360-1,420/st. Another mill said they were offering in the low-$1,300/st range.

Service centers continued to limit their purchases as fear grew of a collapse in prices and lower priced imports. One buyer purchased a barge of 1,500st of HRC for $1,350/st. Other offers were said to be as low as $1,320/st. Customer demand remained steady.

The Argus HRC import assessment into Houston dropped by $70/st to $1,055/st ddp, as lower Asian steel mills offered lower numbers closer to low European import sales and offers into the US.

Weakness in the US ferrous scrap market continued to weigh on the domestic market after #1 busheling traded broadly down by $75/gross ton (gt) in the May trade.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices rose by 1.2pc to $754/st. A year ago the spread was $1,019/st, when the US market was becoming superheated amid supply-side issues.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment fell by $39.25/st to $1,785.75/st, while the hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil assessment declined by $33/st to $1,782/st.

Price offers for CRC and HDG were said to be as low as $1,720/st.

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

The CME HRC Midwest futures market dropped in the last week as market sentiment continued to decline. July future pricing dropped by $75/st to $1,040/st, while August futures fell by $78/st to $1,020/st. September futures declined by $85/st to $1,009/st, while October futures dropped by $102/st to $977/st. November pricing plunged by $115/st to $945/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment rose by $13/st to $1,910/st as plate makers kept their price offers flat at $1,910/st.

The plate delivered assessment rose by $10.50/st to $1,962.50/st. Lead times were flat at 5-7 weeks.