Market Segment
April 6, 2026
Nucor raises list price for HR by $5/ton to $1,040/ton
Written by Michael Cowden
Nucor plans to increase its list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $1,040 per short ton (st), up $5/st from last week.
The Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker said it would also increase HR prices from California Steel Industries (CSI) to $1,090/st. That figure is also up $5/st from last week.
“Lead times for all spot orders will be offered between 3-5 weeks,” the company said in a letter to customers on Monday.
Check out SMU’s mill price announcement calendar. You’ll see Nucor started the year with its list price for HR at $950/st. The steelmaker has increased prices almost every week since then – often in increments of $5-10/st.
This strategy of slow, steady price hikes marks a departure from past years, when steelmakers (including Nucor) would announce price hikes of $100/st or more when they felt market conditions favored them.
You’ll see a good example of that in Q4 of 2023, when most major US steelmakers repeatedly announced price hikes of $100/st or more.
Critics of such huge price increases have said they sent US prices up too high, too fast – thus inviting imports and subsequent steep price declines. Some theorize that one goal of the slow, steady price increases we’ve seen more recently is to reduce such volatility.
