Economy
June 19, 2014
Notes from NYC: Foreign Steel, Transportation, Demand & More
Written by John Packard
We have two markets developing for flat rolled steel imports: hot rolled imports are expected to actually begin to shrink from here as the offers out of Russia and Turkey for hot rolled pricing are approximately $600 per ton or higher. Since most foreign steel buyers tend to be buyers of large tonnage and thus qualify for domestic offers at the lower end of the domestic price range for hot rolled coil which SMU has pegged as $640 per ton, the spread is less than $60 per ton and not attractive for most buyers unless they are located much closer to a port vs. a domestic steel mill.
The second market is cold rolled and coated where offers continue at levels where the spread exceeds $100 per ton, and, in some cases, much higher. Many buyers continue to be interested in foreign cold rolled and coated steels.
