Bargain-hunting buyers lock in lower steel prices with futures

摘要

Sinking steel prices have encouraged end-use consumers to take a fresh look at steel futures, although some potential buyers seem to be holding out in hopes of a further pricing decline. Hot-rolled coil for June delivery, the most-active forward month contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled at 665 dollars a ton (33.25 dollars per hundredweight) Wednesday, up 10 dollars day-over-day but well below the 700 dollars a ton (35 dollars per hundredweight) prices for June material quoted just one month ago.