The range of hot-rolled steel coil prices available in the US sheet market broadened and sunken lower in the last week, as some mills have maintained high offer levels while others have sold significantly cheaper levels to secure business, market sources said Wednesday.
S&P Global Platts lowered its daily HRC to $460-$500/st on Wednesday from $480-$500/st to reflect the wide range of spot prices available. The cold-rolled coil assessment remained unchanged at $700-$720/st, respectively.
Both assessments are normalized to an ex-works Midwest (Indiana) basis.
"There's a difference between mini-mills and integrated mills," one service center source said, adding that the full range of prices available is $460-$500/st for orders less than 500 st. Even though some mills would prefer to sell at $480/st or more, the service center source said mills are willing to negotiate because they don't want to lose orders.
Because sheet prices have been eroding so fast in the last couple months, the buyer said that it seems like the market will find sooner too - maybe in November and not December as some other sources have projected.
Another service center source said he purchased 200 st at $460/st this week. Other mills had offered $480/st and $500/st. Mills are conflicted because they want to hold prices firm but they also don?t want to lose orders, he said.
For CRC, the service center source said his lowest quote was still $700/st, though he could buy galvanized sheet with a base price of $690/st from a couple suppliers.
A third service center source said he booked some small orders of HRC at $470/st and $475/st this week.
"I believe the numbers are still sliding a bit but the pace has definitely slowed down," he said. "The tone I am getting from the mills this week is different. I am hearing the quoting and bookings are really heating up and I just think we are close to something changing the direction of this thing soon."
A mill source agreed the buyers have been making soft inquiries - pricing for hypothetical orders. Service centers also have been willing to place slightly larger orders than they were before, which he saw as a positive sign. Buyers placing small orders could still pay to $500/st, though for 500-1,000 st orders, pricing was closer to $480/st, he said.
With import offers in the $440-480/st range, domestic prices are not likely to fall much further, he said.
Another service center source said that he still saw weakness in the HRC market and $460/st is available for orders smaller than 1,000 st.
A second mill source said he expected prices to bottom in the next 30-60 days, even though HRC lead times as short as 1-3 weeks continue to be a challenge. The mill said CRC and galvanized sheet offers are $690/st, and he's been able to get some more business at that level.
