Hot-rolled band prices have registered across-the-board gains to hit new highs in all four markets tracked by SteelBenchmarker.

U.S. hot-rolled band prices posted a seventh consecutive gain to $746 a tonne f.o.b. mill, up $40 (5.7 percent) from $706 a tonne two weeks earlier and $186 (33.2 percent) above the $560-a-tonne low seen Aug. 13.

However, one analyst said the actual market price could be far higher. "People would be jumping for joy to buy it at $677 a ton ($746 a tonne)," said Nicholas Tolerico, an independent steel industry analyst. "I hear it's $700 to $720 a ton at the moment, depending on who you're buying it from."

The overseas markets are even stronger, so domestic buyers aren't importing much steel, Tolerico said. "The domestic industry is producing at capacity and it has...