CRU: Falling U.S. Steel Prices Put Import Offers on Ice

By CRU Senior Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, Jan. 20

U.S. sheet prices fell sharply in the last month, as mills had issues filling their order books and offered steep discounts to convince buyers not to book imports. Multiple buyers said that imports were $400 /s.ton lower than current domestic offerings, however, they were nervous about buying material that would not arrive until April or May. The CRU U.S. Midwest HR coil price slid $184 /s.ton m/m to $1,490 /s.ton, FOB mill, on Jan. 19. Domestic pricing for HDG coil has been stickier but has also fallen, by $109 /s.ton m/m to $1,931 /s.ton. For a while, buyers were interested in booking imports for value-added products, however, enthusiasm for buying imports has waned with shortening domestic lead times and falling prices.

Estelle Tran

Estelle Tran is a senior analyst at CRU based in Pittsburgh. Estelle joined CRU as a steel and ferroalloy prices analyst in October 2017. She is the main contact for data providers who contribute to the CRU Midwest flat-rolled steel indices. She is also the editor of the Steel Monitor and analyzes the monthly service center inventories report for Steel Market Update. Prior to joining CRU, Estelle worked at S&P Global Platts, reporting on flat-rolled steel, long steel, primary aluminum and trade issues. She earned a B.A. in English writing and history from the University of Pittsburgh. Estelle is also past president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and the Northeast regional vice chair.