Steel Products Prices North America
When Will Cold Rolled Dumping Suits Be Filed Against Chinese Mills?
Written by John Packard
May 29, 2014
While trading emails with one of my Asia trading sources regarding export price offers coming out of China I got the following response, “By the time September rolls around, CRC and other coated products may already be under anti-dumping and nothing sellable to the U.S….” It appears some in China are expecting the inevitable. As our previous reporting points out, exports out of China are beginning to surge as their economy slows down and ours remains robust.
I thought everyone would consider the following comments interesting from a company that clearly identifies themselves as a buyer of foreign steel. We started talking about cold rolled and specifically the amount of offers (and tonnage being purchased) of Chinese cold rolled. “They [domestic steel mills] have to say something. I am a buyer of foreign material but this is just wrong.” He went on to report buying 14-20 gauge cold rolled coils produced in China at $32.00 and $32.90/cwt Gulf and East Coast ports. “I can land it in Chicago for $35.50/cwt.”
Chinese cold rolled exports (receipts in USA ports) totalled 105,236 tons during the month of April. To put this into context, during calendar year 2013 the Chinese averaged 22,027 net tons per month. Now they are five times that level and the same buyer above told us there is a “bunch” of Chinese coming in June as he has a lot on order and he is not the only buyer of the product.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]