US flat-rolled steel market expecting prices to stabilize soon

Platts – The precipitous decline in flat-rolled steel pricing in the US over the last four months is starting to show signs of a soft bottom, sources continued to say Friday.

Platts maintained its daily hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices at $480-$495/st and $610-$630/st, respectively. All prices are normalized to a Midwest (Indiana), ex-works basis.

Despite nearing the bottom, some prices below the Platts assessments were heard available from buy-side sources.

A Midwest fabricator said he was offered commercial quality CRC at a starting price of $600/st from a local mill.