Hot-rolled band prices drop in U.S., world market

SteelBenchmarker™reported that the U.S. hot-rolled band (HRB) spot price for Sept. 25 fell $20 to $655 per ton, FOB the mill—the largest plunge since SteelBenchmarkerwas launched April 12, 2006, and the biggest decline since June to July of 2005 when the price fell $60 per ton from $500 to $440.

The world export price for Sept. 25 declined $6 to $539 per ton versus the Sept. 11 report. The Western Europe HRB ex-works price was down $1 to $608 per ton, and the Chinese HRB ex-works price increased $8 to $398 per ton.

The four benchmark prices for hot-rolled band included in the report are:

• U.S.—$655 per metric ton, FOB the mill—down $20 per ton, or 3%, from $675 two weeks ago, but still up $37 per ton, or 6% from April.
• World Export Price—$539 per metric ton, FOB the port of export—down $6 per ton, or 1%, versus $545 on Sept. 11, but up $22 per ton, or 4% since April.
• Western Europe—$608 per metric ton, ex-works—down just a dollar from Sept. 11, but up $10 per ton, or about 2% since May.
• China—$398 per metric ton, ex-works—up $8 per ton, or 2%, from $390 two weeks ago, but down $4 per ton, or about 1% since April.

Twice each month, SteelBenchmarkerpublishes steel benchmark prices for hot-rolled band, cold-rolled coil, rebar, and standard plate in the U.S., Western Europe, mainland China, and the world export market.