Prices for some imported flat steel products moved up again in the United States, with importers reluctant to bring in competitive offers from overseas due to a lack of buying interest.
Market participants previously said that imports could become attractive again after a collective effort by domestic flat-rolled steel mills to push prices up. While prices for domestic flat-rolled steel products have risen significantly since late October, as doubts rise about the mill hikes' staying power, many sources told Fastmarkets that those prices were doomed to drop again.Case in point: Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $30.03 per hundredweight ($600.60 per short ton) on Wednesday January 22, up by 1.1% from $29.69 per cwt the day before but down by 2.8% from $30.91 per cwt a week earlier.One reason for the domestic price drop has been demand, which has not been sufficient to drive buying for spot use or inventory restocking. And concerns about the February ferrous scrap trade also have weighed on the steel market; flat-rolled steel prices often follow scrap trends.If US buyers anticipate a domestic price drop in...