US sheet steel deals are getting progressively tougher to find as producers find renewed confidence in their order books and their lead times, market sources said Thursday.
One service center buyer said $670/st is the most common hot-rolled price he's seeing, though at least two of his orders were brought to a base of $660/st by waiving certain grade, gauge and thickness extras.
He added that it's "tough to get good steel, at the spec you need, quickly. Therefore there certainly could be buyers paying up to get exactly what they need. Lead times appear decent at most mills we talk to, suggesting to me prices won't fall precipitously, and some mills may dig in at certain numbers. But, due to persistent imports, I'm personally expecting a slow-leak lower on HRC prices in coming weeks."
A second service center source confirmed $670/st as the most commonly transacted HRC price, though he did acknowledge paying $680/st for several 200-300 st orders. The main driver of price, he said, is a lack of availability from Midwest mills. Mills with available Southern capacity, however, are equalizing freight for Midwest customers, he said.
A third service center source said an integrated mill quoted him $810/st for cold-rolled and refused to budge, and a competing mill quoted him above $810/st. He passed on both offers.
A source with one top-tier mill said that lean service center inventories and "relatively long lead times" have combined to support price and "also set the stage for even minor production hiccups pushing up prices."
Platts held its cassessment at $660-670/st and its CRC assessment at $790-805/st Thursday, normalized to a Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
