Mills eye $2,000/st hot-rolled in US

Eye-popping US sheet numbers are still holding strong – and they may indeed continue to rise for the foreseeable future, Kallanish hears from market sources. 

On Monday, Kallanish put hot-rolled at $1,800-1,820/short ton, with cold-rolled at $2,000-2,050/st. All prices are ex-works, domestic mill. 

By the end of the year, domestic producers would like to see hot-rolled at the $2,000/st mark, several market sources said. 

It’s “always probable” that mills will shoot for the moon in a positive pricing environment, says a Midwest service centre buyer. 

A West Coast buyer says the $2,000/st figure is “within [the mills’] crosshairs, and $1,800/st is now a firm floor. Import pressure remains minimal, though some cold-rolled and coated material is now coming from overseas, he says. 

A Gulf Coast tube trader says the continued run-up in skelp pricing is having a trickle-down effect on the troubled energy tubulars market. 

“Hot-rolled keeps rising, making it even harder than yesterday to buy,” he says.

Dan Hilliard USA