US hot-rolled coil prices continued to move up Thursday as buyers were heard to be maxing out contract purchases to avoid higher spot pricing.
The daily Platts TSI US HRC assessment was calculated at $670.75/st Thursday, up $6/st from Wednesday.
A US service center source said he was buying HRC solely on contract this week as he was seeing spot offers at a minimum of $680/st. One mill that had some lower-priced January availability last week was now offering at $700/st and not looking to discount, he said.
A second service center source said he has increased his contract buying and was staying away from higher spot pricing. With mill offers rising beyond some resale pricing, he was unsure how service centers would be able to pay $700/st and keep their pricing competitive.
For spot orders, $700/st seems to be the minimum at most mills, with some pushing to $720/st, a third service center source said. Line pipe demand has been strong, pushing some mill lead times into the second quarter, she said.
HRC prices and lead times are also on their way up in Canada, a service center source in the country said, noting that lead times have extended into March at all mills.
HRC import offers to the US have also jumped, sources said, with most available offers heard around $640/st delivered, duty paid into Houston Thursday. S&P Global Platts raised its import HRC assessment to $600-$620/st from $575-$595/st on a CIF Houston basis.
The combined Platts TSI price index uses a volume-weighted average calculation -- according to TSI's standard -- to determine value on an ex-works Indiana basis.
