US sheet steel spot pricing was unchanged on Wednesday, despite some indications that lower hot-rolled coil deals had been done.
One service center source said mills are trying to keep prices up around $630/st, though he has been able to achieve lower pricing for a large tonnage order with extras.
At least one mill still has July rolling availability, but "hot roll really seems to be getting soft with just about everyone," he said.
A mill source said there has not been much change and he is still able to book HRC at $630-$640/st and cold-rolled coil at an $840/st minimum, with many transactions taking place at higher marks.
It seems some mills have more orders than others, he said, adding that he suspected it was creating an environment for some mills to make some one-off deals at lower numbers.
Looking ahead, the mill source expected buyers to start purchasing more heavily now that they have come back from vacation. Buyers have probably been waiting and looking to published indexes for pricing direction, he said.
S&P Global Platts held its daily HRC and CRC assessments steady on Wednesday at $620-$640/st and $820-$840/st, respectively. Both prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
Sources have been on the lookout for import options, though a lot of suppliers have gone quiet. Turkish and South Korean HRC orders are arriving in Houston now or will be in the next two weeks, a trader said, but he has not heard of any new numbers for HRC or CRC.
A trader said he could not get a good offer out of the Middle East and other numbers he has heard for CRC have been too high.
There are some buyers who have placed orders for November and December, but the trader said that is a big gamble.
