Foreign vs. Domestic HRC Price Update: US Steel Holds the Edge

Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) continues to hold a competitive price advantage over imported steel, though that advantage is slightly easing, according to our latest analysis. US HRC is theoretically 3–13% cheaper than foreign prices this week, after consideration of freight costs, trader margins, and any applicable tariffs. This is the seventh consecutive week domestic prices have been cheaper than foreign prices for all three regions we follow. HRC prices increased across the board week over week, though marginally more in the US than foreign regions. This resulted in the average spread shrinking from $68 per ton last week to $51 per ton this week.

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.