Purchasing.com reported that some steel mills in US continued to quote an unattainable USD 1,000 per tonne for cold rolled sheet in coils in October 2008. Instead, users bought at an average price of USD 961 or about USD 100 under the September 2008 price. They also expect to see transaction prices down close to USD 80 in November at around USD 883.

That’s because cold rolled sheet steel shipments are falling off a cliff, steel users are still on strike either awaiting even lower market prices or truly don’t need new supplies in the collapsed metalworking economy. Meanwhile, hot rolled steel sheet price average decline of 8.5% from September to USD 854 per tonne.

In fact, prices will sink even lower in the final two months, as early reports from buyers say November delivery prices are averaging USD 800 per tonne. All this reflects the fact that only 17% of steel buyers polled in October by Purchasing plan to increase steel purchasing into early 2009.