<article><p class="lead">US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices jumped by triple digits this week as steel mills pressed their advantage and buyers rushed in to book tons as raw material costs rose significantly as the impacts of the Russia and Ukraine conflict continue to ripple through the US market.</p><p>The <i>Argus</i> weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment jumped by 2.50/short ton (st), the largest increase since <i>Argus</i> began tracking prices, to ,155/st, while the southern HRC assessment rose by 8/st to ,150/st.</p><p>HRC lead times in the Midwest moved up to 4-5 weeks from 4 weeks.</p><p>Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor announced a price increase of 0/st on Monday, adding to an earlier /st price increase.</p><p>Most steelmakers reported or were heard to be offering HRC at ,200/st, with some lower priced offers in the market over the last week. </p><p>Basic pig iron (BPI) supply is one of the key concerns in the US, where more than 60pc of pre-conflict supply was sourced from Russia and Ukraine. Exports from those countries are effectively cut off as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.</p><p>The latest BPI transaction into the US was reported at 0/metric tonne (t) cif New Orleans. </p><p>Some sources expect it to take months for pig iron supplies to resume from the regions, assuming the conflict resolves, and many believe it will take longer given the depth of the financial sanctions imposed on Russia.</p><p>Brazil, the other major exporter of pig iron to the US, is not expected to be able to bridge the supply gap into the US. </p><p>In early trading the US scrap market is appearing to increase at least 5/gross ton (gt) on obsoletes, with no level set for prime grades like #1 busheling. </p><p>HRC import prices into Houston were flat at ,100/st ddp, with no trades reported. Some have reported interest from Europe and Turkey to purchase US HRC, although no transactions have been reported as prices remain uneconomical.</p><p>The spread between #1 busheling scrap delivered US Midwest mills and HRC selling prices jumped by 22pc to 9/st. A year ago the spread was 0/st.</p><p>The <i>Argus</i> weekly domestic US cold-rolled coil (CRC) assessment increased by /st to ,560/st, while the hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) assessment rose by .50/st to ,566/st.</p><p>Mills were said to be setting base prices at ,600/st. </p><p>Lead times for CRC rose to 7-8 weeks from 6 weeks while HDG lead times grew to 8 weeks from 6-8 weeks.</p><p>The CME HRC Midwest futures market jumped by more than 0/st across the board in the last week. April pricing jumped by 8/st to ,390/st, while May futures pricing exploded by 7/st to ,439/st. June pricing rose by 0/st to ,420/st, while July future pricing skyrocketed by 0/st to ,410/st. August futures pricing rose by 5/st to ,370/st.</p><h3>Plate</h3><p>The <i>Argus</i> weekly domestic US ex-works plate assessment rose by /st to ,815/st as plate makers were able to bring prices back up. Steel mills are yet to announce their plans for pricing for April sales. The plate delivered assessment was flat at ,860/st delivered. Lead times fell to 3-4 weeks from 4-6 weeks.</p></article>