Steel Prices

Nucor plans to post weekly spot HR price beginning April 8

April 4, 2024

Nucor plans to publish a weekly spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil beginning on Monday, April 8, according to a press release and letters to customers.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said its published HR “consumer spot price” (CSP) would be derived from “both quantitative and qualitative data” in the letter to customers on Thursday, April 4.

The company said it would from April 8 forward update the price every Monday at 10 am ET on its website. The price would be valid from one Monday until the next.

Nucor added that it would also offer lead times for all spot HR orders between three and five weeks “to assist customers with their planning.”

“We are constantly looking for better ways to serve our customers, not only with quality products and services, but also with timely information that will help them make informed decisions for their businesses,” Rex Query, Nucor’s EVP of sheet products, said in the release.

The move marks a stark break from traditional mill sheet pricing practices. US mills might publish target prices when they announce increases. But they rarely communicate spot prices otherwise.

It is too early to tell whether a mill-published price will gain traction in the broader spot market.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.