Limited US sheet import offers linger, domestic prices stable

Pittsburgh (Platts): New flat-rolled steel import offers were seen in the US market Wednesday, but buying interest was limited amid cheap domestic prices and short lead times.

"I have less places to buy steel from, but still enough to cover me," one service center source said regarding import options. "Some sources are new and some sources are old."

The market fluctuations induced by the recent filings of three separate flat-rolled steel trade cases by US producers have not changed the domestic price, but import prices rose temporarily, he said.

A Canadian service center source said there had been no recent change in domestic pricing or market conditions, except for a slight extension in mill lead times due to operational issues and automotive demand. He said importers were actively seeking customers.

However, buyers are not willing to purchase the tonnages required for importers to secure base loads for shipments, he said, adding that timing is also an issue as new orders would not be scheduled to arrive until the end of the year when waterways freeze.

One trader said he was still seeing some Turkish hot-rolled coil offers into the Houston region. He said pricing had not changed much since the filing of the HRC trade case as Turkish mills are seeing lower production costs due to the use of cheaper Chinese slabs and billets.

The most recent offers he said he had seen were between $380-$390/st on a CFR basis into Houston, which he estimated on a delivered basis, would be closer to $410-$415/st. However, he added there is not much interest for new orders, but certain products are being more actively purchased out of inventory in the spot market.

Most domestic buyers continue to look to the southern HRC market for lower prices as deals were heard to be available. However, Midwest prices are still relatively stable.

A Midwest service center source said he was still seeing HRC pricing at $450/st from one supplier, but was told a competing mill was still trying to hold on to $460/st. He had not booked any tons, this week but said he had not seen any more weakness.

Platts left its daily HRC and cold-rolled coil price assessments unchanged at $450-$470/st and $580-$590/st, respectively. All prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.

Courtesy : Platts