Hot Rolled Futures Nearby Surge…

The recent upturn in the physical market has continued to fuel the upswing in steel futures prices as nearby periods have surged this past week. The May and June HRC contracts have traded to highs of $660/ton while second half periods have traded up to $643. The nearby prices have improved over $40 during the past few weeks while the back end has moved up $20.

Events in the physical market have conspired to create a combustible situation in the market as two unplanned outages at US Steel Great Lakes as well as Gary have sent buyers scrambling to cover tons. Lead times are starting to push out and mills, even before the USS outages, have proven disciplined in their price offerings. It feels that it is a matter of days rather than weeks when a second round of price hikes will be announced to solidify these recent gains. 

Volumes have been excellent the past week with over 30,000 tons trading even while open interest has decreased.

Below is an interactive graphic on the HRC Futures forward curve. You will see just white space unless you view the article once you are logged into our website. If you need assistance please contact our office and we will work with you with your passwords or on how to navigate the website. You can reach us at: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475.

{amchart id=”73″ HRC Futures Forward Curve}

U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Prices Firm

The busheling market has continue to remain firm this week as trading begins in earnest. Physical busheling prices look to gain between $10-20 / ton.  The futures market is very quiet in terms of trades completed, but there has been quite a bit of buy side interest of late.  Q2 is bid at 380, Q3 and Q4 at $370. Export scrap increases, stronger end user steel demand and strengthening global raw material prices are setting the stage for a strong couple of months for ferrous scrap.

Again, there have been no reported trades this past week.

We have another interactive graphic below which requires signing into the website before you can see the information.

{amchart id=”74″ BUS Futures Forward Curve}

This article was written by Bradley Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals