HRB prices plunge 8 to 24 percent

The SteelBenchmarker™Chinese HRB ex-works price for Oct. 13 plummeted 23.5 percent to $458 per ton for the second consecutive drop. The world export HRB price dropped 11.1 percent to $799 per ton, FOB the port of export, for the fifth consecutive decrease. The U.S. HRB spot price dropped 8.8 percent to $981 per metric ton, FOB the mill, for the fifth consecutive decline. The western European HRB price dropped 8.5 percent to $920 per ton, ex-works, for the sixth consecutive drop (on a Euro basis, it slipped 1.2 percent).

The four benchmark prices for HRB for Oct. 13, 2008 are:

• U.S.—$981 per metric ton ($976 per net ton), FOB the mill—down $95 per ton from $1,076 ($976 net) three weeks ago and down $222 per ton from the peak of $1,203 ($1,091 net) on July 28, 2008, but up $421 per ton from the recent low of $560 ($508 net) on Aug. 13, 2007, and up $351 per ton from the previous high of $630 ($571 net) on April 9, 2007.
• World Export Price—$799 per metric ton, FOB the port of export—down $100 per ton from $899 three weeks ago and down $314 per ton from the peak of $1,113 on July 28, 2008, but up $249 per ton from the recent low of $550 on July 23, 2007, and up $203 per ton from the previous high of $596 on March 26, 2007.
• Western Europe— $920 (€673) per metric ton, ex-works—down $85 per ton from $1,005 (€681) three weeks ago (on a Euro basis, it was down €8), and down $284 per ton from the peak of $1,204 (€756) on July 14, 2008, but up $257 per ton from the recent low of $663 (€479) on July 23, 2007 (on a Euro basis, it was up €194), and up $224 per ton from the previous high of $696 (€522) on June 11, 2007.
• China— $458 per metric ton, ex-works—down $141 per ton from $599 three weeks ago and down $275 per ton from the peak of $733 on July 14, 2008, and down $12 per ton from the recent low of $470 on Oct. 22, 2007 (the previous low was $402 on July 9, 2007), and up $29 per ton from the previous high of $487 on Sept. 10, 2007.

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.