Tag: Hot-Rolled Coil

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized sheet base prices has been hovering near $200 per net ton since late July, according to SMU’s latest analysis.

Surging US sheet prices and expanding lead times are making imports more attractive. The automotive workers’ strike is essentially over, and domestic US sheet prices have rocketed higher alongside lead times. There is little to suggest that the momentum of these price increases will slow over the next month or two, and thus imports have […]

The US plate market has been rather quiet over the past couple of weeks since Nucor Corp. caught many off guard with a $140-per-ton price cut.

The spread between HRC and prime scrap prices widened considerably this month, according to Steel Market Update's most recent pricing data.

In the dynamic landscape of the steel futures market, a confluence of factors is shaping the current narrative.

US Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continue to surge on the heels of mill increases. They have become significantly more expensive than prices for hot band imported from offshore. Domestic hot band tags moved higher for a seventh consecutive week. Imports have seen only marginal gains over the same period, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis.

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index has moved into growth territory after seeing steady improvement since mid-September, according to our latest survey data.

Spot prices for steel sheet shot upward again this week on the heels of steep price increases announced by domestic mills last week. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price rose to $940 per ton ($47 per cwt) on average, up $75 per ton from last week and up nearly $300 per ton from a 2023 low of […]

Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would seek a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil (HRC) on Nov. 7. Nucor said a day later that it was aiming for $950 per ton. Why didn’t Nucor follow Cliffs up to $1,000 ton? I think there might be some possible answers in our […]

There seems to be a consensus that US sheet prices have nowhere to go but up in the short term, in part because offshore material ordered now won’t arrive until late March or even April.

US steel imports continue to arrive at a steady pace, as total import licenses in October were about even with September’s import levels.

The percentage of steel buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing fell for hot rolled this week, while plate's negotiation rate shot up, according to SMU's most recent survey data.

Lead times for most sheet products were pushed out even further this week as domestic prices continue to rise. Plate lead times, meanwhile, contracted on falling prices and waning demand.

Several past columns in SMU have included comments about the futures forward curve, using terms like contango and backwardation

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags continue to rally in the US, broadening the price disparity between domestic and imported offshore product.

Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco recorded a drop in third quarter profits on lower steel prices and sales volumes. The Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that volumes would be lower still in the fourth quarter. But it also said that financial results would improve next year on higher prices and longer lead times.

Spot prices for steel sheet continued to shoot upward this week, which brought yet another round of price hikes.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said on Tuesday that it had raised minimum base prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) to $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt).

The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is updating import duties on hot-rolled steel flat products from Japan and South Korea.

SMU gives an overview of the steel market and economic indicators for October.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags moved higher again this week, widening the gap in pricing between imported offshore product.

Nucor’s plate price cut notice caught many off guard this week, especially after the company had maintained its pricing position in late September.

ArcelorMittal joins U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs, pushing sheet prices higher, according to an internal commercial memo on Oct. 31.  

Sheet prices are getting back into very lofty territory. That’s assuming you can find spot tons available for the balance of 2023 – and some of you say you can’t.

Sheet prices surged this week on limited spot tonnage and on the heels of steep price increases announced by domestic mills.

Cleveland-Cliffs said Tuesday that it would increase spot market base prices for carbon hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated steel sheet.

The first rule of Steel 101 is that you’re free to talk about Steel 101. We actually encourage it. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

U.S. Steel’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts on Friday, Oct. 27, was packed full of insight into the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s current state of affairs.

I wrote on Sunday that it could be a busy week for steel. It has been.

These were the headlines hot off the press Wednesday night: