Seaborne metallurgical coke price doubles Jan-Aug on Chinese scarcity

Achievable spot prices for normal sheet orders remain somewhat nebulous in the US market, as buyers continue to place minimal orders, trying to minimize their exposure to inventory devaluation.

"This is one of the down-cycles where I think so few orders are being placed, it's hard to even know how low we could buy right now," one service center source said. "The problem is of course, we don't have the orders to test it."

Several mills have offered him $520/st for hot-rolled coil, which he said came with no minimum order size. "They'd take 40 st at $26/cwt ($520/st) base now."

For galvanized sheet, the service center has seen $750/st base pricing for even small tonnage.

Another service center source said the bulk of the HRC market is in the $520-$560/st range, though one mill is still offering $580/st.

One Midwest service center source said a mill quoted him HRC between $540-$560/st last week, and he expected that the price was lower this week. He did not buy in that range because he didn't have the need. Also, he believes prices will soften a little more, "but not much."

Based on limited transactions and firm pricing indications, S&P Global Platts held its daily HRC and cold-rolled coil price assessments flat at $540-$560/st and $760-$790/st, respectively. Both assessments are normalized to an ex-works Midwest (Indiana) basis.

A trader said that one mill has been calling domestic buyers, encouraging them to place very large orders at below-market prices.

"We are keeping our orders small and buying a little as the price drops," the trader said. Even though he's not getting "the best price," he said he has less risk of losing money on inventory.

The trader and other buyers continue to place small orders -- sometimes inquiring about several hundred ton orders but only placing an order for 40 st or 80 st.

One service center said he has been opting to buy imported CRC from another service center at near current domestic pricing. In doing so, he skips over the six-week domestic mill lead time, which is worth it in a market that's still softening, he said.