USA HRC Spot Price Range $1,215-$1,235/ton

Mill maintenance and fall outages are starting to squeeze availability of US-made hot-rolled coil (HRC), making the spot market even tighter than just last week, according to market participants. Deals taking place at the lower end of the spectrum ($1,205-$1,210), which WSD reported earlier this week as probably one-offs, nonetheless evaporated quickly.

“You might be still able to find some tons at $1,210-$1,220 from mills in the southern US,” a Midwest steel service center buyer told WSD, “but not from Midwest suppliers.” Most mill spot offers are at $1,240 per ton or higher, other buyers noted. Lead times are out 10 weeks with most mills now booking November orders—around their respective scheduled outages.

Spot transactions on Thursday for HRC were heard generally in the $1,215-$1,235/ton range, depending on mill location and order size, meaning a midpoint of $1,225 per ton. “But there is still upward pressure,” a steel distributor said.

A mill sales rep told WSD that HRC spot prices were about $1,225-$1,240/ton for new orders. Another mill source said their November order book was filling quickly as new HRC orders came in last week at “about $1,225/ton.” He added: “The market momentum remains; there is no let-up in demand whatsoever.” He noted that spot cold-rolled coil (CRC) is being booked between $1,450 and $1,460/ton.

Meanwhile, quotes for HRC early Thursday all opened higher on the CME for the October ($1,275), November ($1,280), and December ($1,260) contracts. Volume was modest early, however, with fewer than 90 lots trading (about 1,800 tons) across all three months.
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