Prices for hot-rolled coil in the US rose again Thursday as more market sources indicated firm offerings at higher prices with upside expected.
Platts increased its daily HRC assessment to $455-$465/st from the previous $440-$460/st. The move reflects a $460/st midpoint, where the bulk of offers and transactions have been heard.
The daily cold-rolled coil assessment remained flat at $610-$630/st. Both prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
One service center source said he was trying to figure out where buyers could buy HRC below $460/st, but had not seen it available. He had shopped around a large HRC spot inquiry last week, which three separate mini-mills all quoted $460/st.
The source said he believed there was a good amount of buying activity in the market at $460/st, but said a lot of buyers don't feel good about buying at the number as it has risen so drastically recently. Since the beginning of March, the Platts daily HRC assessment midpoint has increased to $460/st from $407.50/st, up $52.50/st.
The service center source said he did not expect to see flat-rolled prices waiver until scrap prices come down, which could be in a few months time. While hot-dip galvanized material availability was still tight, CRC remained the tightest product in the market, he added. The source did not believe anyone would still be able to buy at a $600/st base price number.
A second service center source said he expected $470/st to be the low side of offerings once all the mills open their May HRC order books. He anticipated that May HRC availability may be tight as one producer has claimed to be full and closed for May, a second was waiting on April scrap to settle and a third is full on contract commitments.
The second service center source said he anticipated to see another round of price increases from the mills soon.
A mill source said large volume HRC orders, well outside the Platts maximum lot size of 500 st to be considered in the assessment, were being sold at a floor of $450/st. In addition, HRC sales for greater than a thousand tons were at $460/st.
There had been a "great deal of activity" and it was unlikely that they were the only mill with this experience, he added.
