[ferro-alloys.com]The US sheet market was still in a cloud of uncertainty about where new price levels were Friday, following $40/st increases by most domestic mills during the week.

The daily Platts TSI US hot-rolled coil assessment rose by 25 cents to $836.50/st, while the daily Platts TSI US cold-rolled coil assessment increased by 25 cents to $936/st.

There was a general sense of confusion at the end of the week where new spot prices would be following the first round of price increases since the second quarter.

"I can't give you a 'good' spot number," said one mill source.

New prices were too scattered for him to have "any clue" on where things will settle in the short term.

Earlier in the week HRC offers were heard to be as much as $130/st in some instances between different mills and regions.

A competing mill had offered at $860-$880/st for HRC, according to the mill source but it was too early to tell if transactions would settle there.

Another mill source said they were "studying the situation" but prices were all over the place and there had been no established trend at this point.

Many in the market looked at the price increase announcements as an attempt by mills to spur buying following a dearth of activity over recent weeks.

However, the move was garnering mixed responses with some pointing toward a pickup in activity with others experiencing a muted response.

"Well, based on how our customer base is reacting, I would say there is a pretty good chance this thing works, at least in the short term. It has definitely gotten a portion of the customers off the sidelines which should or could make lead times bounce out a bit," said one service center source.

Still, he remained skeptical of the longer-term benefits of the increases and expected prices to slump again in the first quarter.

The first mill source, however, had not seen a rush of orders following the announcements. They had passed on nearly 40,000 st of orders though from customers prior to the increases because they refused to lower prices to where customers were bidding, he added.

"We've haven't heard of massive amounts of activity driven by the announcements," added one buy-side source. "We're assuming all mills will support the increase, but not necessarily with higher pricing."

ArcelorMittal USA was the latest mill to independently raise its prices by $40/st for sheet prices, according to multiple market sources.

The combined Platts TSI price index uses a volume-weighted average calculation -- according to TSI's standard -- to determine value on an ex-works Indiana basis.

• [Editor:王可]