Home / Metal News / US Spot HRC prices rise sharply during March on strong local demand

US Spot HRC prices rise sharply during March on strong local demand

iconApr 22, 2016 09:36
Source:SMM
US Midwest mills reacted to a rise in raw material prices and improved domestic demand by introducing a number of price hikes.

UNITED STATES April 21 2016 9:00 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): US Midwest mills reacted to a rise in raw material prices and improved domestic demand by introducing a number of price hikes, which brought spot hot rolled coil prices over the $440 a short ton mark by the end of March, reported The Steel Index.

According to TSI, US hot rolled coil (HRC) price started March at $399 a short ton FOB Midwest Mill and increased to $443 a short ton by the end of the month. 

After a slow start, mills announced increases which began to take effect by the middle of the month. ArcelorMittal announced a $30 a short ton hike to its flat product prices in the first week of March, with NLMK and Nucor following suit by mid-month. 

Reasons for the increases included higher raw materials prices, steady end-user markets in the US automotive and construction sectors, as well as low service center inventories. 

Growing import prices into the US and a jump in scrap prices provided mills with a new impetus to raise their asking prices. At the beginning of April NLMK US announced a new $40 a short ton increase to its sheet prices, effective immediately, with other mills reportedly contemplating similar moves. 

Delivery lead-times were steadily increasing during the month, with TSI’s lead-time indicator rising from four weeks at the start of the month to five weeks at its end. According to the latest data from the Metals Service Centre Institute (MSCI), service centre inventories continued to decrease in February. 

Total stocks dropped to 7.84 million short tons (-20.6% year-on-year), the sixth consecutive month of a y-o-y decline. Monthly shipments increased to 3.18 million short tons, but this is still 4.6% down y-o-y.

(This article is compiled by Vibin Antony on behalf of Scrap Register. Send in your suggestions and comments to editor@scrapregister.com)


US HRC prices

For queries, please contact Michael Jiang at michaeljiang@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cn

Related news

SMM Events & Webinars

All