Steel Mills

Nucor drops weekly HR coil price by $10/ton

April 29, 2024

Nucor lowered its weekly base spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil by $10 per short ton (st) this week.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker announced on Monday morning that its consumer spot price (CSP) for the week of April 29 will be $825/st. That’s down from its CSP of $835/st in the last two weeks, and down from its first published CSP of $830/st on April 8.

The CSP is in effect for all of Nucor’s producing mills except for its California Steel Industries (CSI) subsidiary. CSI’s CSP remains at $890/st, unchanged since Nucor implemented its weekly CSP earlier this month.

Nucor reminded customers in a letter that its CSP for HR coil is “derived from both quantitative and qualitative data” and that it will offer lead times of three to five weeks “to aid in supporting your ability to plan better.”

Nucor executives said on an earnings call last week that its CSP is intended to address volatility in the marketplace.

Last week, Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would publish its own monthly base spot price. On Friday, April 26, with the opening of its June order book, the flat-rolled steel producer said its spot HR coil price will be $850/st.

On April 23, SMU pegged spot HR coil prices to be in the range of $785-845/st, with an average of $815/st.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.