Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil steel prices in the US were unchanged on Tuesday, but sources were seeing reduced activity entering into the seasonally slow summer months. However, lead times are still long enough to keep mills' prices firm.
S&P Global Platts maintained its daily HRC and CRC assessments at $630-$640/st and $820-$840/st, respectively. Both prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
One service center source said the increase in prices over the first half of the year was a supply-driven phenomenon and he was not necessarily seeing HRC demand improving as energy and heavy equipment markets remain depressed.
On recent tours of the Southwest, he noted high inventories of equipment and material that would need to be worked through before he thought demand would improve.
A second service center source said despite the relatively weak demand on the HRC side of the market, overall supply remains constrained. He does not believe the market is getting credit for the supply tightness, especially during the seasonally slower summer. However, following domestic supply reductions and limited imports due to trade cases, he said any improvement in demand could send the market even higher.
A mill source said the seasonality used to be considered normal in the market and some buyers may be making a bit more out of it than usual. He noted HRC lead times were still around five weeks and into late August on CRC and coated products.
Overall, he said, HRC lead times of around four to five weeks were a positive sign as any extension of HRC lead times can lead to harder purchasing decisions for buyers.
A second mill source said there had not been much change week on week.
"I sense that prices are flat and not ready to move either higher or lower in the foreseeable future," he added.
Another service center source said he was not expecting much to happen until after the market gets back after the Fourth of July holiday.
