The market for flat-rolled steel imports into the United States has remained broadly quiet and uncompetitive, but foreign products could become attractive once again in the wake two rounds of domestic mill increases announced over the past two weeks, market participants said.
"My focus had been international, and now it's completely dead," one mill source commented.Hot-rolled coilFastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr Houston, remained at $560-600 per short ton cfr ($28-30 per hundredweight) on Wednesday July 10.Inputs were received in a wide range of approximately $520-660 per ton, representing offers and assessments from Europe, Mexico, Canada and South Korea.One Gulf Coast trader reported prices at the lower end of the current range, speaking after domestic mills announced a second round of sheet price increases. Low prices could be competitive for buyers in the Gulf Coast, that source noted.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, ended July 10 at $27.35 per cwt ($547 per ton), up by 1.1% from $27.06 per cwt on July 9 and up by 2.7% from $26.64 on July 3. Recent stability around $27 per cwt indicates that the first round of $40-per-ton...