HRB spot steel prices continue climb in most regions

SteelBenchmarker™reported that the world export HRB price for March 24 surged 6.6 percent to $870 per ton, FOB the port of export, for the eighth consecutive rise totaling $289. The Western European HRB price surged 4.7 percent to $930 per ton, ex-works, for the fourth consecutive time totaling $217 (on a Euro basis, it rose 2.9 percent). The United States HRB spot price rose 3.7 percent to $865 per metric ton, FOB the mill, for the tenth consecutive rise totaling $288. The Chinese HRB ex-works price slipped slightly to $627 per ton, after five consecutive rises.

The four benchmark prices for HRB for March 10, 2008 are:

• U.S.—$865 per metric ton ($784 per net ton), FOB the mill—up $31 per ton from $834 ($756 net) two weeks ago and up $305 per ton from the recent low of $560 ($508 net) on Aug. 13, 2007, and up $235 per ton from the recent high of $630 ($571 net) on April 9, 2007.
• World Export Price—$870 per metric ton, FOB the port of export—up $54 per ton from $816 two weeks ago, up $320 per ton from the recent low of $550 on July 23, 2007, and up $274 per ton from the recent high of $596 on March 26, 2007.
• Western Europe— $930 (€596) per metric ton, ex-works—up $42 per ton from $888 (€579) two weeks ago (on a Euro basis, it was up €17), up $267 per ton from the recent low of $663 (€479) on July 23, 2007 (on a Euro basis, it was up €100), and up $140 per ton from the recent high of $696 (€522) on June 11, 2007.
• China— $627 per metric ton, ex-works—down $1 per ton from $628 two weeks ago, up $157 per ton from the recent low of $470 on Oct. 22, 2007 (the previous low was $402 on July 9, 2007), and up $140 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.