June 2009 | North American Steels
Coil prices slip: Flat Product Highlights
Fundamental demand remains weak, but inventories of HR coil are low.
Despite our expectation that prices would stabilize at $400/ton, Midwest ex-mill HR prices dropped slightly over the month of May to around $380/ton ex-works, with reports that some sales were done at $360/ton for larger volumes. However, most major mills were not below $380/ton to our knowledge. Other coil prices were down in line with HR by around $20/ton.
Export opportunities ariseRecent (relative) strength in international coil prices, combined with still falling North American prices and a weaker US dollar mean that export opportunities are now on the table. Export contracts are often for large tonnages and at around $360/ton ex-works, are around $400-410/tonne fob, depending on mill location. This is leading to offers of around $440-450/tonne cif EU (€315-320/tonne), which is competitive into Europe or around $450/tonne cif Asia, which is competitive into some Asian countries, for example South Korea or some south-east Asian...
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