While offer prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil heard in the US continued to climb, buyers on Wednesday were struggling to find spot availability.
Although the majority of prices referenced by sources approached or surpassed $600/st for HRC and $800/st for CRC, Platts maintained its daily assessments because it was unclear if mills were actually selling the higher-priced material due to closed order books or limited availability. Platts assessed HRC and CRC at $560-$580/st and $740-$760/st, respectively. Both prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
ArcelorMittal set its prices for July production and shipment at $610/st for HRC and $800/st for CRC and hot-dipped galvanized sheet products. The prices were effective for open June and early Q3 production, the steelmaker said in a letter to customers.
A Midwest service center source said he had been quoted $620/st out of one mini-mill producer, while two others had yet to even open their June order books. Another mini-mill was between $600-$610/st on HRC, but he had also heard "they are booked strong." The mini-mill was no longer offering HRC for June delivery.
"I'm not even sure the mills realized the extent [of their pricing power in this market]. They woke up last week, but there's really nothing stopping more increases near-term," the service center source said. "What do you do when you have no alternative? You pay."
He noted the availability for HDG offers was nearly nonexistent as four different suppliers all had closed order books. The service center's only offer was for $780/st base pricing from one re-roller.
A mill source said it "is only going up at about the same pace it fell last year. The market will determine where the price ultimately settles."
One buy-side source said it is "really, really hard to get a quote for CRC and HDG." The buyer did indicate that mills were likely close to opening order books as one was heard to be surveying customers' volume needs.
"I don't think I could get lower than $800/st" for CRC, the buyer said, but it depended on the product. "Maybe something with a lot of extras, maybe you [could] negotiate," the buyer added. However, the mills understand they are the only availability as import options remain limited.
A fabricator said a mill was offering CRC for $810/st. "Prices are going up by the minute this morning ... people are just seeing this escalation and they're gobbling up cold-rolled. Everyone is looking at their replacement costs. It's taken on a life of its own without significant demand," he said.
However, "if there's no demand pull, it's just going to drop off a cliff in September," he added.
