Domestic US hot-rolled coil (HRC) spot prices continued to slide this week as many buyers stayed on the sidelines with Covid-19-related auto closures reducing demand.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC index fell by $26/st to $495.50/st ex-works Midwest on 11 indications from sell- and buy-side sources, a 20pc frop from the 2020 high in mid-January. The assessment dropped below $500/st for the first time since October 2019.

Lead times slipped to three weeks from 3-4 weeks as mills contend with lower demand from continued outages in the auto and manufacturing sectors.

Integrated steelmaker US Steel idled another blast furnace at its Gary Works mill in Indiana. The 1.2mn st/yr No 8 blast furnace is the latest blast furnace to be taken offline by integrated steelmakers. Official closures of flat rolled steel mills represent at least 7.4mn st/yr of production.

Integrated steelmaker and miner Cleveland-Cliffs is idling two of its three iron ore mines, which together produced 12.9mn gross tons (gt)/yr (14.45mn st/yr) of iron ore in 2019.

After spending much of the last year above 80pc, US steel capacity utilization rates fell to 56.1pc in the last week, their lowest rate since September 2009.

In a possible glimmer of hope, US automaker Ford said it plans to reopen its global manufacturing plants in the second quarter. But its chief financial officer added that the company has enough cash to weather keeping its plants shut down through the end of the third quarter.

Many steel market participants said automakers must come back in early May to avoid an even deeper downturn in the US steel industry.

Ferrous scrap traded this month in a disjointed market, with the trade continuing into this week and prices down between $25-$50/gt, depending on product and location. Prime scrap grades in the Midwest generally fell by $30/gt while obsolete grades like shredded scrap fell by as much as $50/gt.

HRC import prices into Houston were flat at $580/st ddp.

Futures prices in the CME HRC futures market mostly moved up in the last week, with May prices falling by $2/st to $470/st. June futures prices rose by $6/st to $475/st, while July prices inched up by $1/st to $478/st. August prices jumped by $9/st to $497/st, and September futures prices rose by $10/st to $510/st. October HRC futures prices slipped by $3/st to $517/st, while November prices settled up by $2/st to $522/st. December HRC prices were flat at $527/st.

Summary of market activity heard by Argus: