Foreign vs Domestic HRC: Little to No Foreign Attraction

Foreign hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports offer little to no cost advantage over domestic steel at this time, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. After taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration, HRC imported from Germany and Italy are theoretically more expensive than domestic steel, and Far East Asian HRC offers just a 1% discount to domestic prices. The relationship between foreign and domestic prices has been somewhat similar over the past five weeks, with prices from all regions remaining within $16 per ton of each other. The gap between US and foreign prices has been narrowing since May.

SMU uses the following calculation to identify the theoretical spread between foreign HRC prices (delivered to US ports) and domestic HRC prices (FOB domestic mills). Our analysis compares the SMU US HRC weekly index to the CRU HRC weekly indices for Germany, Italy, and Far East Asian ports. This is only a theoretical calculation because costs to import can vary greatly and often fluctuate, which influences the true market spread.

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.