The price of HRC on the American market fluctuates in the range of US$ 800-900 per short ton
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (BF) prices continue to fall in the US, losing ground after a sharp increase in late 2023 and January 2024. Kallanish reports.
Currently, US hot coil prices are in the range of US$800-900 per short ton, compared to US$900-920/t last week. According to sources, the drop in prices will continue and the market does not look promising at the moment. Perhaps the outlook will be clearer in March, when automotive contracts with steelmakers will be reviewed.
A source at one of the US mills notes that buyers are market-driven and expect hot-rolled coil prices to reach the bottom of the cycle in the next two weeks. After that, prices will likely rise again. Currently, buyers are leaning on inventories to try to buy cheaper materials at the end of the first quarter.
US cold-rolled coil prices are falling more slowly than HRC prices. This week, CRC transactions ranged between $1,150-1,200 per short ton, compared to $1,250-1,260 per ton last week.
Earlier this year, hot-rolled coil and physical market futures prices exceeded US$1,100 per short ton. Steelmakers were optimistic and consistently increased prices for these products and extended delivery times. However, they subsequently fell sharply, which came as a surprise to market participants and observers.
As Compraço previously reported, according to the CEOs of US steel companies, last year the demand for steel in the US was stable and this trend is expected to continue in 2024. At the same time, 62% of respondents to the World Steel Dynamics survey conducted on LinkedIn expect US hot rolled coil prices to be less than $1,000 per short ton by the end of the first quarter of this year.
