With domestic flat-rolled steel mills holding firmly to higher prices, some market participants said that foreign suppliers could return to the US market.
Domestic sheet mills announced price increases of $50-60 per short ton on April 30 and May 1, right around the time when US hot-rolled coil prices crashed below $22 per hundredweight ($440 per ton). As a result of those increases, Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US has moved close to $25 per cwt ($500 per ton) over the past two weeks. Similar trends were seen on cold-rolled and galvanized sheet products as well, with both tags up to $34 per cwt on May 7 from $32.50 per cwt and $32 per cwt respectively in the previous session. Some sources have been skeptical about whether the domestic price increases could stick longer due to still lackluster demand. But others suggested that by raising prices, domestic sheet mills were inviting imports - which have been...