Prices in the United States for imported hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and galvanized steel dropped due to Vietnam and Russia underbidding domestic and other foreign material in order to benefit from the lucrative US market.
"The Vietnamese are offering steel at much lower prices than domestic producers because they are still making a tidy profit," a West Coast trader source said.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Houston was $1,500-1,540 per short ton ($80.00-81.50 per hundredweight) on Wednesday August 18, down by 5.88% from $1,600-1,630 per ton two weeks earlier and down by 9.25% from a record high of $1,650-1,700 per ton on July 7.Confirmed deals and offers from Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, Serbia and Egypt were included in...