Special bar quality (SBQ) steel spot prices in the United States have dropped considerably due to reports of cold-finished bar base price cuts by domestic mills, widespread discounting and declining ferrous scrap prices, Fastmarkets has learned.
Swift and significant price declinesAccording to multiple sources, a domestic mill this month reduced base prices by $60 per short ton ($3 per hundredweight) on all cold-finished SBQ product grades ranging from sizes 0.375-3.5 inches, with the exception of leaded material.That mill also reduced prices for all grades in sizes 3.5-6in, except 1018 and leaded grades, by $40 per ton ($2 per cwt); for 1018 bar sizes ranging from 3.5-6in by $80 per ton ($4 per cwt); and for all grades of flats, hexagon and square bars, except leaded grades, by $60 per ton.Other US producers of cold-finished SBQ followed with similar price cuts, sources said.Further downward pressure came from the domestic ferrous scrap settlement; the price of steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Chicago decreased by $30 per gross ton month on month...