Sheet market weighing cost of postponing orders amid spot price hikes 

Market commentary 

A service center on the West Coast did not order replacement HR this week. A representative from the center said they ultimately want to see how the prices shake out in a few weeks.  

“We decided to wait on purchasing coils at this time,” he said. “Our thinking being that in three to four months we don’t feel prices will be higher, and we would be purchasing at an inflated cost now.”  

He added, “Whether we are correct or not, we’ll find out in four months. We can purchase already leveled sheets at other distributors locally for the same price as current domestic prices.” 

The source noted that demand remained consistent at a higher level than in past months, and he hopes it will remain elevated.  

“Our inventory is in great shape for our demand. We’re just taking a pause on coils to see where the tea leaves are in a month or so,” he said.

“Speaking of demand, it’s pretty good,” the sourc”e noted. “Yes, we’d always take more, but we’re probably in better shape than most. We’ll just see where we go from here.”  

A Midwestern-based mill source said the week’s momentum for HR remained strong. The mill found demand from equipment manufacturers in various sectors including construction OEMs crept up. 

“We are encouraged about where the market is,” he said. “We saw signs of life in the once sluggish industrial equipment segment, which tends to be a precursor to an improving construction market in the coming months.”   

Prices 

The same domestic mill producer noted, “Our average transaction prices last week were right at $1,000/st for hot-rolled. Cold-rolled prices transacted at an average of $1,190/st. CR has never been an enormously large spot sale item for us.” 

SMU’s weekly sheet market price assessment on March 10 found hot-rolled coil spot transactions ranged from $990-1,020/st. The average transaction price was $1,005/st. 

In the equivalent week of 2025, the average price of HRC was $950/st.