April 2011 | Coated Steels
Domestic market is steady, for now: American Market Highlights
The US coated market appears to be at a crossroads.
After rising about 60% from mid-November to mid-February, US HDG prices have held fairly steady for the past month or so. Except for the west coast market, which has lagged the rest of the country in price increases, it appears that HDG, and other flat-rolled steel, prices have peaked. A few weeks ago there were whispers that another price increase was possible, but that has not materialised and is not likely to do so in the next few months. In fact, there have been some reports that prices are already starting to drift down. This isn’t surprising given that demand, while improving, is still not all that strong. Ferrous scrap prices have declined slightly and increases in production capacity could move HDG from its current fairly balanced state into oversupply.
The one saving grace for the mills is that service centre inventories remain fairly lean. As of the...
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