CRC prices held firm in the US, may witness major rise in Q1 2016

By  Paul Ploumis 11 Sep 2015  Last updated at  02:24:18 GMT

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The US cold-rolled pricing held steady when compared with HRC. The prices managed to withstand further price erosion. According to market participants, CRC prices look well set to hold on to current price levels for the time being. A major rise in price is expected only during first quarter of the next year, they added.

The cold-rolled prices ranged between $560 per short ton and $580 per short ton ex-works in the country. The price levels are likely to sustain for volumes of up to 1,000 short tons. The orders from automotive sector have started pouring in. Also, demand for coated substrate has shown significant improvement. These factors will provide good support to current CRC price levels in the immediate near term, sources indicated.

Furthermore, unlike HRC, CRC is presently not witnessing huge supply pressure. One key reason for lesser supply is the higher time consumption levels for CRC production at domestic mills in the country. In addition, supply has been eased by declining imports of these products from other countries.

A positive decision out of the ongoing trade cases against HRC, CRC and hot-dipped galvanized may result in further price rise, but possibilities of this are postponed to first quarter of next year.

Meantime, Hot-rolled transactions ranged between $440 per short ton and $460 per short ton ex-works. Slowdown in general end-user buying, subdued demand from the agricultural sector and abundant supply from domestic mills are likely to keep hot rolled prices under pressure.