HRC Index Falls, but it’s not substantial.
United States Hot-rolled coil prices have fallen for the second week in a row. For now, pricing power has shifted away from mills and back to buyers.
There is still a substantial lead time difference between foreign and domestic. HRC has come down a bit, but in our gulf coast market there is a substantial amount of foreign still dominating the market because of the higher spread in prices to buy domestic. Foreign takes about 5 months to get delivery on.
Domestic HRC lead times are averaging from three to six weeks.
The AMM reports, one mill source said, “The price is softening a little bit – but not much.” He noted, both planned and unplanned recent outages should keep too much slack from developing on the supply side.
“Other sources disagreed and said that the market would require more than outages to combat an unexpected drop in demand, adding that prices probably have further room to fall,” stated the AMM.
Some mills with available steel have tried to keep the price stable. But others have lowered prices in response to market conditions. For example, JSW Steel (USA)’s mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, is offering steel at a discount to entice new customers.
The AMM reports, a Midwest service center source said, “Either the service center price has to come back up or the mill price has to come down further – and I think it will be the latter.”
Cold-rolled and Galvanized
Domestic Lead times for cold-rolled and galvanized material average six to seven weeks.
“The sense we are getting is that no one wants to stock up… that we have already reached the peak and that the price can only go down from here,” one steel buyer said.
There is limited upside to steel prices, because higher steel costs will hurt US manufacturers, thus dropping demand.
It is best to go with a proven expert in their field. Call us if your company requires a secure supply of stainless, aluminum, cold-rolled or galvanized sheet metal.
We can help you with any stocking requirement level. From a few skids to hundreds of tons. We will help you schedule out the material you need to meet production without shortages.
CALL NOW 832-300-1030.