Scrap Prices North America

HRC, Prime Scrap Gap Widens in November

Written by Ethan Bernard

November 16, 2023

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices widened considerably this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

SMU’s average HRC price jumped this week, while the average price for busheling scrap also rose in November, but by a slimmer margin.

Our HRC price stood at $940 per net ton ($47 per cwt) as of Nov. 14, up $75 per ton from the prior week. Just a little over a month ago, our average HRC price stood at $695 per ton ($34.75 per cwt).

Busheling tags increased $15 per gross ton from October to an average of $415 per gross ton this month. Figure 1 shows price histories for each product.

After converting scrap prices to dollars per net ton for an equal comparison, the differential between HRC and busheling scrap prices is $569 per net ton as of Nov. 15, up $231 from a month earlier (Figure 2). We have to go back to our June 16 reading of $519 per net ton to find the spread breaking $500.

By the way, did you know our Interactive Pricing Tool has the capability to show steel and scrap prices in dollars per net ton, dollars per metric ton, and dollars per gross ton?

Figure 3 explores this relationship in a different way – we have graphed HRC’s premium over busheling scrap as a percentage. HRC prices now carry a 127% premium over prime scrap, soaring from 74% a month ago.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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