CSI Closes April Book as Market Mulls If Inflection Point's Near

The steep, albeit unannounced price hike was aimed at bringing CSI’s pricing more in line with price levels from mills east of the Rocky Mountains, which had been raising tags more rapidly, they said.

While some market sources predict that U.S. prices will continue to rise in the weeks ahead, others think that domestic tags might be at or near an inflection point.

Potential cracks in the unprecedented runup in U.S. prices include February scrap prices, which are expected to be lower for obsolete grades and flat or modestly down for primes, sources said.

Another potential tipping point comes from imports. Case in point: Foreign hot-rolled coil from several nations has been offered, and in some cases transacted, at or below $1,000 per ton, they said.

Steel Market Update’s average price for U.S. hot-rolled coil hit $1,140 per ton this week, its highest reading ever.

But it’s too early to draw any broad conclusions from such datapoints, one manufacturer source said. Perhaps there is a case to be made for buying foreign hot-rolled coil if the lead time is right. But’s harder to make a case for overseas cold-rolled and coated products that might not arrive at U.S. ports until this summer, he said.

“It would make sense if the lead time were March-April. But for June-July…it doesn’t make sense. Unless that (buyer) believes the prices can only go upward from now on,” he said.

CSI, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles in Fontana, Calif., makes hot-rolled, pickled-and-oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized products as well as welded pipe.

By Michael Cowden, michael@steelmarketupdate.com