US HRC prices shoot up by $76 a short ton during April

UNITED STATES May 13 2016 10:25 AM     

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): With  the onset of Spring and a warmer climate beckoning for the US Midwest, steel  markets in the region also showed signs of heating up as HR coil prices surged  $76 a short ton FOB Mill across April to close at $520 a short ton. Last month’s  rise followed on from a $44 a short ton increase over March, leading to a 30%  jump in spot prices in just over two months, reported The Steel  Index.

Successive list price hikes by steelmakers, a US$50/long ton surge  in domestic shredded scrap prices during April buy-week and low steel  inventories at service centers were all factors contributing to the rise in flat  steel prices.

Perhaps most tellingly, Asian steel prices  grew even more over the same period—ASEAN HRC imports leapt 46% between  March-April. The general increase in global flat steel prices will have  supported rises in the US Midwest.

According to the Metals Service Center  Institute (MSCI), service center steel inventories slipped 19.6% year-on-year in  March to 7.685 million short tons. This represented 2.3 month of supply as per  March’s shipment times. Monthly shipments in March rose to a five-months high of  3.333 million s. tons but remained 9.2% lower y-o-y.