Warms

While it appears the Southeast is likely to come out of its freeze shortly, New England, the Northern Rockies and Plains are expected to remain cold for the foreseeable future, according to Billerica, MA-based WSI Corp.’s latest seasonal outlook, which covers the February to April period.

Traders had realized that a belated stretch of severe winter weather throughout much of North America was the only thing keeping spot prices firm since the end of January, so it was purely a matter of “when” a market retrenchment would begin. The “when” turned out to be Wednesday, as across the board declines were topped by plunges ranging up to slightly more than 70 cents (Algonquin citygate) in the previously high-flying Northeast.