Recently, the price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the US market has increased slightly. The main reason is that steel mills insist on holding prices and have sufficient orders on hand at present. Therefore, the price decline that was originally expected may not be rapid and sharp. However, insufficient actual demand in the future, coupled with a correction due to excessive gains in the previous period, price decline would be inevitable. 

The price difference between blast furnace plants and electric furnace plants in the Midwest is about US$20/short ton, and there are lower offers for great volume order. 

On the other hand, the decline in steel scrap prices will also affect HRC price. The steel scrap price in May may fall further, so HRC price may start to weaken in that month, and there is a lack of sufficient orders to support current price trend.