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Key steel at products
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Flat product news
US hot-rolled coil prices stay above
$60/cwt
By Grace Lavigne Asenov - Wednesday 17 February
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained above $60 per
hundredweight, with spot availability for April mostly dried up already,
according to market participants.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at
$60.17 per hundredweight ($1,203.40 per short ton) on Wednesday February
17, up by 0.15% from $60.08 per cwt the previous day and 1.90% from $59.05
per cwt a week ago.
Inputs were received across all three sub-indices in a range of $58-62 per cwt.
The high end of that range represents mill o ers reported by distributors and
consumers, and the low end represents mill o ers reported by mills and
consumers.
Heard in the market
HRC prices continue to reach new heights, with Wednesday’s price marking
the second day in a row of prices above $60 per cwt and the highest ever
recorded since Fastmarkets began assessing the market in 1960.
Buyers continued to report that spot availability in April is essentially non-
existent, with most lead times into May.
Higher prices are likely to remain for longer than previously anticipated,
according to mill and distributor sources. The severe winter weather that has
a ected much of the US in recent days has caused mill outages and could
tighten supply even more, market participants said.
Some buyers still cannot stomach the uncertainty of purchasing imports at
these elevated prices, with foreign delivery times stretching into June and
beyond, but are considering it more seriously, some said.
Quote of the day
“Higher prices are going to persist longer than buyers believe or hope,” a
producer said. “The mills are booked, and the weather is going to cause
production problems. Auto is going to have to slow down because of supply
issues, but that will ensure that demand continues further out than service
centers think.”
The global shortage of computer chips, which is disrupting automotive
production in the US, could extend domestic steel consumption further into
the year than normal and keep prices elevated for longer, some market
participants reported last week.
This material is provided by Euromoney Global Limited (a company registered in England and Wales under number 142215) doing business as Fastmarkets MB and
Fastmarkets IM, and Metal Bulletin Holdings LLC doing business as Fastmarkets AMM, collectively referred to in the material as ‘Fastmarkets’.
It is provided to you subject to your compliance with the terms of your license agreement with Fastmarkets, in addition to the Fastmarkets Copyright Notice and Disclaimer.
If you need additional access please contact hello@fastmarkets.com
Weekly Market Newsletter
12 - 19 February 2021
Weekly HRC recap: Prices maintain
record high
By Grace Lavigne Asenov - Tuesday 16 February
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued to soar to new highs
above $59 per hundredweight ($1,180 per short ton) last week due to
constrained supply and elevated scrap costs.
Fastmarkets’ steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US averaged $59.11 per cwt
for the week ended Friday February 12, up by 1.74% from $58.10 per cwt the
previous week and the highest weekly average recorded by Fastmarkets since
1960. This overtook the previous week’s record and marks the third week in a
row of record-breaking highs.
Heard in the market
There is still very little supply available in the US, particularly in the Midwest,
sources said. Buyers remain wary of purchasing any more than the
minimum required to ful ll their customers’ immediate needs, they said.
Most market participants do not expect the steel segment’s historical bull
market to retreat in the coming weeks. Service centers are still seeing positive
demand from their customers, and mill lead times have stabilized with most
deliveries now set for April or later, they said.
Activity in the automotive; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC);
and non-residential construction segments remains strong. Plus, the global
shortage of computer chips, which is disrupting domestic automotive
production, could extend steel consumption further into the year than normal
and keep prices elevated for longer, some sources said.
Raw material costs also remain high. No1 busheling prices were unchanged in
February versus January – bucking historical trends of falling in February.
The majority of sources also do not expect imported material to provide
much relief from the supply shortfall, given long shipping times and limited
availability globally. Customers were not interested in foreign o ers of HRC at
$49 per cwt for delivery into Houston last week because those o ers would
not arrive until May-June, when prices might be much lower, one distributor
source said.
Most market participants still believe that HRC prices will drop slowly, and not
crash dramatically, after the market peaks. With inventory levels currently
low and demand not faltering, it will take some time to restock, they said.
Quote of the week
“Supply is at-out atrocious,” a steel buyer said. “Demand is strong and mills
[are] still running two-plus weeks behind. Our inbound orders... are still
breaking records; mindboggling in this market.”
© Fastmarkets 2021
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Key steel at products Weekly Market Newsletter 12 - 19 February 2021 2

“So as we see that move forward into Q1 [and] further into Q2, we think we
will see that reversal for the OCTG and line pipe,” Reid added.

Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel ERW line pipe (X52), fob mill US was
$1,400-1,450 per short ton ($70.00-72.50 per hundredweight) on January 26,
up 18.8% from $1,175-1,225 per ton in December and the highest level
recorded by Fastmarkets since it began assessing this market in 2016.

Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel OCTG API 5CT – Casing J55, fob mill US
rose 16.6% to $1,275-1,325 per ton on January 26 from $1,080-1,150 per ton in
December. This is the highest level since late August 2018, due to a round of
price hikes on OCTG products of $425 per ton earlier this month.

Rising at-rolled steel and plate prices - substrates for line pipe and OCTG -
should also provide support for prices. Indeed, Fastmarkets’ daily hot-rolled
coil index hit an all-time high of $59.63 per hundredweight on Thursday
February 11.

Reid said rising energy product prices have been re ected in increase steel
prices as the supply chain continues to rebalance and oil prices and rig count
activity improve.

For the week ended Friday February 5, the number of active drill rigs in the US
totaled 392, up 2.1% from 384 rigs the previous week but down 50.4% from
790 rigs at the same time last year.

Additionally, the US Energy Information Administration does not expect US

energy consumption to return to 2019 levels for "years," according to its
annual energy outlook for 2021.

The Mississauga, Ontario-based steel distributor reported Canadian $671

million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020, up 9.1% from C$615 million
in the previous quarter. Year-over-year revenue, however, dropped 26.9%
from C$3.68 billion to C$2.69 billion.

“Our metals service centers and distribution operations experienced

improving demand and multiple price increases in the fourth quarter which
provides a springboard going into 2021,” Reid added.
Line pipe, OCTG tags to rise into Q2:
Russel
By Patrick Fitzgerald - Friday 12 February

Line pipe and oil country tubular good (OCTG) prices should continue to
improve into the second quarter, according to Russel Metals’ top
executive.
“We are seeing [line pipe]
pricing rise quickly,” Russels’
president and chief executive
o cer John Reid said during the
company’s fourth quarter 2020
earnings call. “OCTG is
following, but it’s moving at a
little bit slower pace due to
there being some oversupply.
We think that will rebalance in
Q1.”

Key at products

This material is provided by Euromoney Global Limited (a company registered in England and Wales under number 142215) doing business as Fastmarkets MB and
Fastmarkets IM, and Metal Bulletin Holdings LLC doing business as Fastmarkets AMM, collectively referred to in the material as ‘Fastmarkets’.
It is provided to you subject to your compliance with the terms of your license agreement with Fastmarkets, in addition to the Fastmarkets Copyright Notice and Disclaimer.
If you need additional access please contact hello@fastmarkets.com © Fastmarkets 2021
Licence user: corporate@nizamibrothers.com Downloaded on 04 March 2021 @ 10:09 UTC

Key steel at products Weekly Market Newsletter 12 - 19 February 2021 3

Symbol Description Date Price +/-

MB-STE-0028 Steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, €/tonne 19 Feb 2021 723.75 -0.17%

MB-STE-0047 Steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main port Southern Europe, €/tonne 17 Feb 2021 660 - 680 1.52%

MB-STE-0107 Steel hot-rolled coil export, fob main port Turkey, $/tonne 19 Feb 2021 750 - 810 6.12%

MB-STE-0014 Steel hot-rolled coil export, fob Black Sea, CIS, $/tonne 15 Feb 2021 690 - 705 -0.71%

MB-STE-0144 Steel hot-rolled coil index export, fob main port China, $/tonne 19 Feb 2021 664.75 -0.16%

MB-STE-0139 Steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr Vietnam, $/tonne 19 Feb 2021 700 6.46%

MB-STE-0184 Steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, $/cwt 19 Feb 2021 60.61 0.56%

MB-STE-0153 Steel cold-rolled coil domestic, delivered Eastern China domestic, yuan/tonne 19 Feb 2021 5400 - 5450 1.97%

MB-STE-0026 Steel cold-rolled coil domestic, exw Northern Europe, €/tonne 17 Feb 2021 820 - 850 3.73%

MB-STE-0185 Steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, $/cwt 18 Feb 2021 69 1.10%

MB-STE-0172 Steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US, $/cwt 19 Feb 2021 51.5 0.00%

MB-STE-0034 Steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, €/tonne 17 Feb 2021 650 - 680 0.00%

MB-STE-0155 Steel plate domestic, delivered whs Eastern China, yuan/tonne 19 Feb 2021 4660 - 4700 3.31%

MB-STE-0883 Steel hot-dipped galvanized coil (hot-rolled base), fob mill US, $/cwt 18 Feb 2021 69.5 1.09%

MB-STE-0186 Steel hot-dipped galvanized coil (cold-rolled base), fob mill US, $/cwt 18 Feb 2021 69.5 0.36%

MB-STE-0021 Steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China, yuan/tonne 19 Feb 2021 5800 - 5870 1.48%

MB-STE-0030 Steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Northern Europe, €/tonne 17 Feb 2021 850 - 860 3.01%

MB-STE-0187 Steel coil Galvalume, fob mill US, $/cwt 16 Feb 2021 67 8.06%

MB-STE-0850 Steel coil Galvalume import, cfr main ports South America, $/tonne 19 Feb 2021 900 - 920 0.00%

This material is provided by Euromoney Global Limited (a company registered in England and Wales under number 142215) doing business as Fastmarkets MB and
Fastmarkets IM, and Metal Bulletin Holdings LLC doing business as Fastmarkets AMM, collectively referred to in the material as ‘Fastmarkets’.
It is provided to you subject to your compliance with the terms of your license agreement with Fastmarkets, in addition to the Fastmarkets Copyright Notice and Disclaimer.
If you need additional access please contact hello@fastmarkets.com © Fastmarkets 2021