Downward price pressure from widespread discounting finally came to a head in the last week, as US domestic wide flange beam (WFB) mills announced two separate price decreases. The first (on July 17), in response to a drop in scrap prices, decreased beam prices by $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt). On July 25, another $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) was announced, this time as a stated attempt to clean up all the discounting in the market. While some mills tried to blame others for the rampant softness in the market, sources tell SteelOrbis that all US beam mills were culpable--they should have gradually decreased transaction prices over the course of a few months rather than slashing them in one fell swoop (the last time mills dropped prices directly along with scrap was February). For service centers holding ample inventories of more expensive material, the new price of $37.00 cwt. ($816/mt or $740/nt) ex-mill (for ASTM A992, W10 x 10, W18 x 6, and W24 x 7) is distressing, but they have a possible scrap uptrend next month to look forward to. Sources say that if scrap indeed goes up in August, beam mills will likely issue a "symbolic" price increase to restore confidence in the market.
As for imports, offer prices dropped after the initial US domestic price decrease, and another drop is expected within the next week. While interest in imports isn't exactly robust, traders tell SteelOrbis that if offshore mills are willing to drop prices more than a couple dollars beneath US domestic prices, interest will certainly increase. For now, import offer prices from Spain are $36.00-$37.00 cwt. ($794-$816/mt or $720-$740/nt) DDP loaded truck in Gulf Coast ports--reflecting a drop of $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) in the last month. Offers from Korea also dropped $1.00 cwt. in the last month to $37.00-$38.00 cwt. ($816-$838/mt or $740-$760/nt) DDP loaded truck in Gulf Coast ports.