Domestic HRC Maintains Competitive Advantage Over Imports

The domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) competitive price advantage over imported steel has been on a 13-week run, and it’s been gaining ground over the past week, with foreign HRC prices still largely on the rise, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis.

US HRC is approximately 8% cheaper than foreign prices this week, down slightly from the 9% mark last week after consideration of freight costs, trader margins, and any applicable tariffs. US prices have been cheaper than foreign prices for all three regions we follow since the beginning of November. HRC prices for all regions increased week over week (WoW), yet the average spread slipped from $65 per ton last week to $63 per ton this week as US prices also moved up.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.