HRB spot steel prices mainly up

SteelBenchmarker™reported that the U.S. hot-rolled band (HRB) spot price for Dec. 10 surged 1.8 percent to $606 per metric ton, FOB the mill, for the third consecutive rise. The world export HRB price rose 1.2percent to $588 per ton, FOB the port of export, after two consecutive declines. The Chinese HRB ex-works price exploded 6.0 percent to $529 per ton, for the third consecutive time. The Western European HRB price slipped 0.4 percent to $675 per ton, ex-works, after two consecutive rises (on a Euro basis, it rose 0.2 percent for after six consecutive declines).

The four benchmark prices for hot-rolled band included in the Dec. 10 report are:

• U.S.—$606 per metric ton ($532 per net ton), FOB the mill—up $11 per ton from $595 ($540 net) two weeks ago and up $46 per ton from the recent low of $560 ($508 net) on Aug. 13, 2007, but down $24 per ton from the recent high of $630 ($571 net) on April 9, 2007.
• World Export Price—$588 per metric ton, FOB the port of export—up $7 per ton from $581 two weeks ago, and up $38 per ton from the recent low of $550 on July 23, 2007, but down $8 per ton from the recent high of $598 on March 26, 2007.
• Western Europe— $675 (€459) per metric ton, ex-works—down $3 per ton from $678 (€458) two weeks ago (on a Euro basis, it was up €1) and down $21 per ton from the recent high of $696 (€522) on June 11, 2007, but up $12 per ton from the recent low of $663 (€479) on July 23, 2007 (on a Euro basis, it was down €20).
• China— $529 per metric ton, ex-works—up $30 per ton from $499 two weeks ago and up $59 per ton from the recent low of $470 on Oct. 22, 2007 (the previous low was $402 on July 9, 2007), and up $42 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 markets.