Foreign HRC Price Update: U.S. vs. Germany, Italy and Far East Asia

This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices have started to gain a greater advantage over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices. After shrinking in May, the price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian imports has now slightly widened, while the East/Southeast Asian price spread widened by $25 per ton in two weeks.

The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). This is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs can fluctuate, ultimately influencing the true market spread. We are comparing the SMU U.S. hot rolled weekly index to CRU hot rolled weekly indices for Germany, Italy and the Far East (East and Southeast Asian port).

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a digital operations analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.