Increasing raw material costs have driven special bar quality (SBQ) prices up by $1 per hundredweight ($20 per short ton) across all grades, with market participants reporting lead times for hot-rolled bar that extend into early February 2019.
Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for 1-inch round 1000 series (Carbon) hot-rolled bar was at $46 per cwt on Friday October 12, up from $45 per cwt previously and a 17.9% increase $39 per cwt in mid-October 2017.Likewise, 1-inch round 1018 (Carbon) cold-finished bar increased to $65 per cwt on the same date from $64 per cwt previously, marking the first time the price has moved since July 13.Cold-finished prices had risen in mid-July after the Section 232 tariffs started to limit imports from Asian and European countries, in addition to flows from Canada.Hot-rolled bar pricing last moved on May 11 after market participants widely adopted June base price increases. Busheling increase creates upward pressureThe cost of No 1 busheling scrap in Chicago rose by $20 per ton on October 5, which market participants projected would have a definite pricing impact. "Everyone pays the scrap increase," a distributor source said. "I would anticipate [the SBQ price] moving up if demand for scrap remains...