Steel Products Prices North America
January 19, 2022
CRU: Falling U.S. Steel Prices Put Import Offers on Ice
Written by Estelle Tran
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.
