Steel Products

US HRC, Busheling Scrap Price Spread Narrows in August

Written by Ethan Bernard

August 15, 2023

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices narrowed further this month, according to Steel Market Update’s most recent pricing data.

SMU’s average HRC price dropped, while busheling scrap tags ticked up slightly into a wider range.

Our HRC average price fell $15 per net ton week over week to $790 per ton ($40 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Aug. 8. 

Busheling tags, however, increased $5 per gross ton from July to an average of $450 per gross ton for August. Figure 1 shows price histories for each product.

After converting scrap prices to dollars per net ton for an equal comparison, the differential between HRC and busheling scrap prices is $393 per net ton as of Aug. 14, down $100 from a month earlier. (Figure 2). This is the fourth consecutive month where the spread has narrowed.

By the way, did you know our Interactive Pricing Tool has the capability to show steel and scrap prices in dollars per net ton, dollars per metric ton, and dollars per gross ton?

Figure 3 explores this relationship in a different way – we have graphed HRC’s premium over busheling scrap as a percentage. HRC prices now carry a 77% premium over prime scrap, off from 100% a month earlier.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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