Market sources were beginning to question the rate at which recent US sheet price hikes have been coming, as ArcelorMittal on Friday became the third mill to officially inform customers of a $30/st price increase.
One mill source conceded he thought the "increases are coming way too fast," after an extended period of relative stability.
However, he said the increases were lead-time driven and buyers were unlikely to pause for long before purchasing at the higher levels. Base pricing for cold-rolled substrate had been around $590/st prior to the increases, but he anticipated new offers around $610-$620/st.
One service center source, who had seen hot-rolled coil offers between $420-$430/st and CR coil at $580/st prior to the announcements, said the hikes appeared rushed.
"It does seem like it's a little too much, too fast. The last increase was two weeks ago," he said. "I kind of expected something in April. I didn't expect it in two weeks."
A fabricator said he had not been surprised by the round of increases, but thought mills had "really gone ahead of the game." He said he expects prices to rise, but the market would take another two to three weeks before fully digesting their impact. CRC pricing, he said, was $580/st prior to the increases.
A second service center source said he believed the second quarter would see improved demand that could extend into Q3. He said there is some supply tightness for uncommon grades and sizes, but there was still "plenty of common items [of] HRC out in the market to be had."
Another service center source said he's seen some urgency return among buyers, "based on China, scrap, inventories, import prices and the preliminary [trade case] info."
"The market has been jolted out of its rut," he said, adding that HRC prices could push toward $450/st, but headwinds remain.
Platts maintained its daily HRC and CRC assessments Friday at $420-$440/st and $580-$600/st, respectively, both normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
