Foreign Hot Rolled Steel Price Competitiveness Remains Low

The temptation to purchase foreign hot-rolled coil (HRC) at a bargain remains low, with adjusted foreign prices now within $40 per ton of domestic steel, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. For the past three months, the potential discount on imported products has been shrinking. After taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration, foreign imports for one region are more expensive than domestic steel for the third consecutive week, and the other two regions hold a 4–5% potential discount over domestic prices (down from discounts of 12–26% seen in May).

The following calculation is used by SMU to identify the theoretical spread between foreign HRC prices (delivered to US ports) and domestic HRC prices (FOB domestic mills). This is only a “theoretical” calculation because freight costs, trader margins, and other costs can fluctuate, ultimately influencing the true market spread. This compares the SMU US HRC weekly index to the CRU HRC weekly indices for Germany, Italy and Far East Asian ports.

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.