Steel buyer spirits tempered by soft spot market conditions 

One Midwestern-based distributor said Nucor’s increase added to the general sense of uncertainty that buyers are exhausted by.  

“Shops are dead. Jobs are dead. Demand is dead. There is a lot of pessimism right now in general. Selling prices remain stagnant. Ample supply without demand to back it up is just more noise,” said the distributor. 

A second Midwestern distributor underscored the lack of movement in the market. 

“There haven’t been any large price changes and most people are out on vacation this week. That pulls the activity down a bit,” he said. 

A service center operator on the East Coast surmises that mill prices are aligned with their orders.  

“Business remains slow and steady,” he commented. “My prediction stands: nothing will change until Q4. The market remains slow and mill published prices reflect their order books.” 

On the other side of the Rocky Mountains, market sentiment was similar.  

A West Coast-based distributor does not expect to see the market gain more confidence until the overall macro-conditions firm up.  

“[The] market is still slow, especially this short holiday week. I’m of the opinion that we won’t see a change until the tariffs are decided. Deadline is July 9, and we’ll see if Trump kicks them down the road further and whether they are implemented,” said the distributor. 

They added, “Negotiations may take longer than he [Trump] originally thought. When tariffs are complete, I think we’ll be in a better position with trading partners.” 

SMU assessed the current spot price for domestically produced HR coil at $840-920/st, with an average $880/st, as of Tuesday, July 1.