BAML Trims Steel Price Forecast Amidst Deteriorating Market Conditions

Amid imports targeting the U.S. market and inventory destocking planned by customers, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch trimmed their Q4 2016E US HRC spot price estimate by $50 and also trimmed their H2 volume assumptions. Timma Tanners and team said in their September 15 research piece titled “Cutting U.S. steel mill H2 ests on lower steel price outlook as imports are back” that they believe the widening price gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world for premium sheet will be unsustainable. BAML lowers sheet forecast for Q4E Tanners and colleagues highlight that benchmark U.S. hot-rolled…