CRU - FOB US Midwest HRC Pricing: New Research Reveals Market Preferences

News provided by

CRU

24 Jul, 2019, 09:00 GMT

LONDON, July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Physical market preferences for attributes of FOB US Midwest mill HR coil (HRC) prices have recently been established by independent market research.

Key findings are that weekly FOB US Midwest mill prices are regarded as more accurate than daily; a price being transaction-based is more important than being daily, including for the purpose of physical contract settlement; the reputation of the Price Reporting Agency (PRA) is important, as is the association of a physical price with a financial derivative (futures/options) contract.

Continue Reading
This image opens in the lightbox
HRC Highlights
This image opens in the lightbox
HRC Research Chart

Highlights

Physical market preferences for attributes of FOB US Midwest mill HRC prices have recently been established by independent research of the market at large. The physical steel market in North America remains committed to CRU's FOB US Midwest HRC price, according to these findings, which in summary are:

  • Weekly FOB mill US Midwest prices are regarded as more accurate than daily, with 91.3% of survey respondents indicating this as their view;
  • A price being transaction-based is more important than being daily for the purpose of physical contract settlement in 88.4% of answers;
  • The reputation of the Price Reporting Agency (PRA) is considered important to all responders, with 73.9% rating this as 'very important';
  • The association of a physical price with a financial derivative (futures/options) contract is seen as important or very important by 63.7% of responders.

Research objectives and methodology

CRU has a long-established and proud history of serving the market with its US Midwest prices, but index-based pricing has moved in and out of favour, and alternatives to CRU prices have presented themselves. CRU welcomes all forms of choice in the market. With this context, CRU commissioned third party research in order to clarify current attitudes towards price frequency, methodology and use of financial derivative contracts by the industry. We commissioned similar research in 2015 and this year we repeated and extended it to help ensure CRU's services continue to meet market requirements.

Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/knowledge-and-insights/insights/2019/fob-us-midwest-hrc-pricing-new-research-reveals-market-preferences/  

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia – our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU – big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/951416/HRC_Highlights.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/951417/HRC_Research_Chart_Infographic.jpg

Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/536199/CRU_Logo.jpg