Steel Products
Hot Rolled Futures Hold Steady in the Face of an Uncertain Physical Market
Written by Diana Packard
August 9, 2013
Written by: Bradley Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals
The HRC futures market has been exceptionally quiet over the past few weeks with almost no volume trading as the recent price hikes, uncertainty of pricing going forward and middling futures pricing has led most traders to sit on the sidelines awaiting the next price move. The forward curve has seen a bit better bids with the August value around $645, September $640 and further out the q1 value around $625. All these values are up around $5 from the previous week. It does feel that more offers are starting to build up as we get to the end of the week on September and q4 periods as the sustained price levels are starting to look a bit shaky.
Raw materials, particularly prime scrap are holding steady this month but with the expectations that September will see prices retreat. This plus the sustained upward movement in prices domestically has begun to invite imports into the US which should have a cooling effect on prices as we head to the end of summer. Without an increase in steel demand it looks likely that the next move is to the downside, the question appears more when than if at this point.
Volumes in the futures market have been fairly light over the past couple of weeks, but trades have occurred down the curve giving hedgers and speculators alike a chance to position themselves for the next move in the market.
Diana Packard
Read more from Diana PackardLatest in Steel Products
Galv buyers less optimistic about short-term market
“It was a little more of a seller's market as contractors seemed to be protecting themselves against a potential run up in prices," one buyer said.
SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]
US, offshore CRC prices continue to fall
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices were down again this week, slipping six weeks in a row and seeing the sharpest drop-off since last July.
Asian HR remains much cheaper than US, EU product
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell this week, now down seven of the last eight weeks.
April service center shipments and inventories report
Flat rolled = 57.6 shipping days of supply Plate = 54.5 shipping days of supply Flat rolled US service centers’ flat-rolled steel supply edged up in April, as shipments slowed. At the end of April, US service centers carried 57.6 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data. This is up from 56.4 shipping […]