Hot Rolled Band Prices Strengthen

The US domestic price for hot rolled band (HRB) rose by $19/t in the two weeks to 25 January to $690/t, approaching the 2016 high of $697/t (achieved in June), according to the latest SteelBenchmarker from World Steel Dynamics. There were slightly smaller increases of $14/t and $10/t, in the Western European and Chinese domestic HRB prices over the same period, to $608/t and $463/t, respectively. Both are now at the highest level since early 2014.