Analysis
August 14, 2026
HR vs. galv spread widens over past month
Written by Ethan Bernard
The price spread between hot-rolled (HR) and galvanized coil has widened over the last month.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 11, the gap stood at $230 per short ton (st), up $30 from $200/st on July 14 and a $10 increase from the prior week’s $220/st. On Aug. 12, 2025, the spread was $145/st.
Trends by product
SMU’s average HR price was flat at $1,180/st this week vs. a week earlier but was up $20 from a month ago.
Meanwhile, the galvanized (base) price increased $10/st week over week (w/w) to $1,410/st and was up $50 from four weeks prior.
Figure 1 shows the pricing relationship between these two products since 2023. Use our Interactive Pricing Tool for more ways to analyze SMU data.
Galvanized premium rising
The spread between these two products has been inching up every week since July 7, when it was $190/st. (Figure 2, left). This week marks the highest premium since it hit $240/st at the beginning of October 2024.
Another way to compare these products is to look at the galvanized premium as a percentage rather than a dollar value. The right graph in Figure 2 shows the HR/galvanized price spread as a percentage of the HR price.
This week, the percentage premium stood at 19% vs. 17% on July 14, and was flat compared with a week earlier. For a year-over-year comparison, it was 18% on Aug. 12, 2025.
