US flat-rolled steel import prices mostly steady amid minimal trading

Fastmarkets’ fortnightly assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Port of Houston was flat at $640-680 per short ton ($32-34 per hundredweight) on Wednesday. The assessment was last lower at $630-670 per ton on October 23.

Lead times for imported flat-rolled steel are as far out as May 2025, sources said, which can discourage buyers from participating in the import markets.

“Foreign offers have been very few and not attractive at the current offers,” a distributor said.

“My regular offshore suppliers like Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia don’t even want to quote because they know that they cannot compete [with domestic steel prices],” a trader told Fastmarkets.

Market participants are also bracing themselves for potential changes in the market, especially with President-elect Donald Trump previously announcing that he will impose a 10-20% tariff on US imports, and an additional 60% tariff on all Chinese imports.

“In the new Trump Administration, domestic steel prices will go up with less foreign steel coming in. There will be more drilling for oil and gas, and I expect that activity will begin to boost buying activity and lift steel prices in the first quarter. So far, however, there’s been no Trump bump yet like we’ve seen in the stock market,” a second distributor said.

However, a second trader told Fastmarkets that the driver of the flat-rolled steel markets is not the presidential election but economic activity instead.

The US Federal Reserve will reportedly reduce interest rates in December due to the potential of higher inflation from President-elect Trump’s proposed policies, according to most economists in a Reuters poll on November 20.

The second trader added that market participants are “driving down inventory” due to lower steel prices in the US.

Domestically, hot band market continued to be weighed down by bearish market sentiment, weak demand and ample supply.

US Midwest HRC prices hovered around $34 per cwt during the assessment period November 7-20, with sources reporting bearish sentiment and sluggish demand anticipated to continue through the remainder of the year.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest averaged $34.73 per cwt in the assessment period, up by 0.87% from the average of $34.43 per cwt in the previous assessment window.

Import CRC increases, HDG flat

Meanwhile, prices of cold-rolled coil into the US rose slightly while those of hot-dipped galvanized steel were unchanged on Wednesday.

Fastmarkets’ fortnightly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, ddp Houston stood at $840-900 per ton ($42-45 per cwt) on Wednesday, widening upward from $840-880 per ton in the previous assessment on November 6.

The fortnightly assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized 0.012-inch G30, ddp Houston was unchanged at $1,100-1,200 per ton ($55-60 per cwt) on Wednesday. The assessment was last lower at $1,050-1,100 per ton on July 31.

In the assessment period, the International Trade Commission said in a notice on November 14 it will postpone the deadline of its preliminary determinations in its investigations on certain corrosion-resistant products (CORE) to February 3, 2025.

The preliminary determinations were initially due November 29.

The postponement comes after the US Department of Commerce initiated countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of US imports of certain CORE products from Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Vietnam on September 25.

Steelmakers Steel Dynamics Inc, Nucor, US Steel, Wheeling-Nippon Steel were among the petitioners that requested the postponement, “so that Commerce can fully analyze the forthcoming questionnaire responses of the mandatory respondents and issue supplemental questionnaires,” according to the ITC notice.

Nucor is not a petitioner with respect to the CVD investigation on CORE from Mexico, and US Steel, Wheeling-Nippon, and the USW are not petitioners with respect to the CVD investigation on CORE from Canada.

Domestically, cold-rolled coil prices were flat while those of hot-dipped galvanized steel rose slightly in the assessment period to November 14, with sources reporting stable market fundamentals in the flat-rolled steel market.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for domestic steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US was flat at $46 per hundredweight ($920 per short ton) for the second consecutive week on November and was last higher on October 24 at $47 per cwt.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil (cold-rolled base), fob mill US increased to $44 per hundredweight on November 14, up by 2.33% from the previous assessment at $43 per cwt on November 7.

Import, domestic plate prices decline

Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel medium plate, import, ddp Houston decreased to $760-780 per ton on Wednesday, from $800 per ton in the previous assessment.

Domestically, plate demand has been weak, evidenced by light spot trading.

Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Tuesday November 19, down by 2.33% from $43 per cwt on November 12.

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