US HRC: Prices fall, market remains unsettled

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell this week as a lower sale and offers were reported.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment fell by $10/short ton (st) to $787.50/st, while the southern assessment slipped by $4/st to $787/st.

HRC lead times in the Midwest fell to 4 weeks from 4-5 weeks.

A purchase of a few hundred tons was reported at $775/st, while sales were reported from $800-820/st.

Offers were reported from $760-840/st in the Midwest, with most at or below $800. Southern offers ranged from $740-840/st.

Multiple buyers were said to have made large purchases over the past six weeks at or below $700/st, totalling more than 300,000st. The large buys combined with multiple outages have not pushed out lead times and it is unclear what would increase lead times, if anything.

Reports on the level of demand were mixed, with some reporting flat to slowly falling demand, and others seeing some increased shipments. Overall outlooks were flat to down.

The Argus HRC import assessment into Houston fell by $45/st to $685/st ddp on lower offer levels.

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices increased by 2.1pc to $447/st.

A year ago the spread was $1,431/st as HRC prices were hovering at record-high levels.

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment was flat at $1,000/st, while the hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil assessment fell by $24.25/st to $1,046.75/st.

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

The CME HRC Midwest futures market was down by double digits in the last week, with the futures prices extending sharply into backwardation through April. November prices dropped by $47/st to $749/st, while December prices dropped by $42/st to $756/st. January prices plunged by $50/st to $755/st, while February declined by $45/st to $770/st. March prices fell by $45/st to $775/st, and April prices fell by $40/st to 785/st.

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment was flat at $1,620/st after steelmaker Nucor lowered its discrete plate prices to that level last week.

Lead times fell to 4-5 weeks from 5-6 weeks.

The plate delivered assessment rose by $8.25/st to $1,668.25/st.