US sheet pricing remained static ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, though some buyers reported a hint of softness in the Southeast.
Deals as low as $670/st for hot-rolled coil were heard in the Southeast, but one buyer expressed doubts the deals were anything more than test tons.
The source added that some buyers might be suffering from a crisis of confidence in the market.
"[I'm] wondering if some of the other service centers or end-users who haven't bought steel yet because they just don't believe in these increases are starting to panic and tell stories to try to get this to start sliding," he said. "Just a thought, but I don't see this thing cooling off at all. All the mills are holding the line."
A second buyer said if the deals are legitimate then "at least that's not too drastic, and not liable to drag down the entire market (yet)." He added he had not personally seen price erosion.
"It will get really interesting if there are any integrateds showing up in the market with these deals," he said.
Platts maintained its hot-rolled assessment at $675-685/st and its cold-rolled assessment at $775-785/st. The reported $670/st deals did not affect the assessment due to Platts normalization to Midwest (Indiana) ex-works basis.
