Prices in the United States for imported flat-rolled steel have inched upward on stable raw material costs abroad and the resumption of normal activity following China's Golden Week holiday, market participants said.
"The global market has seen a bit of an uptick this week, and everyone is trying to make one more push for higher prices," one trader source said.
Hot-rolled coil
Fastmarkets' price assessment for
steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Houston was at $580-640 per ton ($29-32 per hundredweight) on Wednesday October 14, up by 7% from $540-600 per ton on September 30.
That price range represents material from South Korea slated to arrive at US ports in January or February along with material from Mexico and Canada, where mills typically ship on lead times comparable to those of domestic mills.
US mill lead times are more extended than usual, stretching in many cases into December and in some instances into January.
South Korea, Canada and Mexico can...