US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continued to increase at slower rates, as the market awaited the ferrous scrap trade and some mills continued to hold off opening up their May books.

 

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC Midwest and southern assessments rose by $48/short ton (st) and $60/st, respectively, to $1,500/st.

 

Both prices are up by 47pc since hitting a low around $1,022/st on 1 March.

 

HRC lead times in the Midwest were flat at 5-6 weeks, as some mills started to transact for May and other continued to wait to offer up May tons.

 

Most HRC offers were at $1,500/st, with some heard above that level.

 

The expectation for the April US ferrous scrap trade have been tempered, down from expectations of upwards of $200/gross ton (gt) down to the low $100/gt range.

 

The spread between #1 busheling delivered US Midwest consumer and pig iron cfr New Orleans is $344/gt, with pig iron at $1,026/gt.

 

HRC import prices into Houston made their largest jump in Argus' 3.5 year history, skyrocketing by $293/st to $1,543/st ddp as limited import offers started to flow back in to the US.

 

Much of the pipeline had been cut off for months as US prices fell and global prices remained elevated.

 

The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices rose by 5.7pc to $891/st. A year ago the spread was $812/st.

 

The spread between pig iron cfr New Orleans and Midwest and southern HRC prices rose by 9pc compared to the prior week to $584/st.

 

The Argus weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment rose by $50/st to $1,900/st, while the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) assessment increased by $52/st to $1,900/st.

 

Lead times for CRC rose to 7-9 weeks from 6-8 weeks while HDG lead times rose to 7-9 weeks from 7-8 weeks.

 

The CME HRC Midwest futures market largely fell in the last week after multiple weeks of increases. May futures pricing rose by $25/st to $1,595/st compared to the last week, while June pricing was down by $15/st to $1,546/st. July future pricing declined by $25/st to $1,510/st, while August futures slipped by $5/st to $1,490/st. September futures dropped by $50/st to $1,430/st, while October futures plummeted by $80/st to $1,355/st.

 

Plate

The Argus weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment rose by $29/st to $1,910/st on higher offers from electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor, which announced a price increase last week. The plate delivered assessment increased by $93/st to $2,013/st. Lead times rose slightly to 6-7 weeks from 6 weeks. (argusmedia.com)