Category: Steel Prices

Sheet prices trended sideways to modestly up this week in a market that appears to be in “wait-and-see” mode.

Nucor increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $695 per short ton (st), up $5/st from last week.

The price gap between US cold-rolled (CR) coil and imported CR widened this week after falling to a 10-month low in late July.

Chinese steel export prices decreased for the eleventh week in a row, with all steel products recording losses of 2-3.7% compared to the previous week.

The front end of CME hot-rolled (HR) coil steel futures contracts had drifted lower when this article was filed on Thursday afternoon. And the back end of 2024 had also come under pressure. Despite staging a late-month rally at the end of July back into the low $700s per short ton (st) range, the lead […]

SMU’s sheet prices increased across the board this week, marking the third consecutive week of rising prices, while plate prices held stable.

Nucor’s weekly consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil is unchanged from last week at $690/ton.

Another month for hot-rolled (HR) coil, and another disappointing one for the bulls. They are still holding onto hope that the bottom is here and still pointing to an imminent uptick in HR prices.

It’s buy week again for ferrous scrap. US steelmakers are expected to offer their prices for August shipment this week. Most of the dealers and brokers RMU has quizzed believe the market has enough traction to hold sideways and even go up.

The US sheet market appears to have reached a bottom following consistent weekly declines since April. However, other markets remain weak due to limited demand. Trading in Europe has been slow due to summer holidays. While European mills are also undergoing maintenance outages, these have not been enough to offset ongoing price falls, with weak […]

SMU’s sheet prices rose by an average of $10 per short ton (st) this week on most products, the second consecutive week of recovering prices. Aside from the marginal uptick seen last week, this is the first instance of increasing sheet prices since the first week of April.

Nucor intends to keep plate prices unchanged with the opening of its September order book, according to a letter to customers dated Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Nucor has raised its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $690 per short ton (st), up $15/st from last week. This marks the second consecutive week the company has sought an increase.

The price gap between US cold-rolled (CR) coil and imported CR tightened marginally after falling to a 10-month low in late July.

Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor each raised their respective hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices this week. Since last Wednesday’s settlement, the Midwest HRC futures curve has rallied as much as $63 in the September future.

The premium between US hot-rolled (HR) coil and offshore hot band prices narrowed this week as it appears domestic tags might have reached a bottom.

Cleveland-Cliffs said on Wednesday that it would seek at least $700 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said it made the move "due to ongoing market developments." The company said the increase was effective immediately for HR orders for September.

SMU’s sheet price was largely flat this week, an unusual sight for the better part of the past four months. The same trend was seen for tandem products and plate as well.

Nucor has raised its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $675 per short ton (st), up $25/st from last week.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced on Friday that it would seek $670 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil. The steelmaker said the move was effectively immediately. It coincides with the opening of the company’s HR order book for September.

Summer is here, and a familiar sentiment has hit the hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures market. Prices continue to decline in both the spot market and the futures market, with expectations of sub-$800 prices for the remainder of the year.

Galvanized prices have fallen precipitously from a month ago, though many market participants think a bottom is in sight.

Nucor kept its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil unchanged at $650 per short ton (st) this week. HR prices for CSI, the company's sheet subsidiary in California, held steady at $720/st. Note that sheet prices on the West Coast are typically higher than those east of the Rocky Mountains.

The price gap between US cold-rolled (CR) coil and imported CR has fallen to a 10-month low as domestic tags continue to drift lower. Domestic CR coil prices averaged $920 per short ton (st) in our check of the market on Tuesday, July 16, down $40/st from the week before. CR tags are now down […]

US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices this week drifted further below offshore hot band prices on a landed basis. The premium is now near a two-year low. SMU’s check of the market on Tuesday, July 16, put domestic HR coil tags at $640 per short ton (st) on average, down $10/st from last week. Stateside hot […]

The CME steel futures complex saw a slight decrease in activity from levels seen at the end of June. This has coincided with a notable decline in flat prices for the nearby futures contract, now August HRC, which is lower by $81 per short ton (st) since last writing on June 13. It settled at $672/st on July 17.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices  narrowed for the third consecutive month, hitting a level not seen since 2020, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price fell to $640 per short ton (st) on average on Tuesday. That’s down $10/st from last week and marks the lowest point for HR prices since December 2022, according to our pricing archives. SMU’s HR price is now $5/ton below 2023’s low of $645/st, which occurred against the backdrop of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike.

Nucor dropped its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled coil to $650 per short ton, down $20/st from last week. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker also said base prices for HR from CSI, its subsidiary in California, would be $720/st. That’s a $30/st decrease from $750/st a week ago.

A month ago, when we last presented this column, there was a surprising amount of optimism in the presumably imminent reversal of the downtrend in hot-rolled steel prices in the second half of this year.