Tag: Hot Rolled

Sheet and plate prices continue to move higher on trends now familiar across the flat-rolled steel market: long lead times, limited availability, and domestic mills seemingly struggling to keep up with demand. Some market participants voiced concern about a potential slowdown in data center construction in the wake of sweeping Democratic victories at both the state and federal level as well as popular sentiment turning against the centers. But no one we contacted saw such concerns impacting the direction of prices over the short term. Commodity grades of HR are hard to find. And finding some items – whether it’s floor plate or 72-inch-wide coil – has become even more difficult, one steel buyer said.

Nucor said on Monday, Nov. 9, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,295 per short ton (st) this week, up $15/st from the prior week. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,365/st, also up $15/st from last week. Nucor continues to offer lead times of three to five weeks, according to its letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Nov. 3, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,350/st, up $45/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 10.

Nucor opened its secondary and excess product bid list across all its flat-rolled mills last Monday, as it typically does, market participants told SMU. But by Wednesday, when bidding was scheduled to close, Nucor notified buyers it would not be awarding any bids that week. The abrupt close sent a shock through the secondary market, they said. “There will be no awards this week,” emails from Nucor sales representatives to customers confirmed. “Effective immediately, we are placing a temporary hold on all secondary sales.”

Sheet prices soared this week as market participants increasingly predict that the strong market characterizing 2026 will stretch well into 2027. And with extremely limited spot availability, mills that have spot tons to sell are charging a significant premium, they said. The result: Sheet prices saw their highest week-over-week gains since March 2025, according to SMU's pricing records. That's when President Trump shocked the market by expanding Section 232 tariffs to cover traditional US allies such as Canada, Mexico, and the EU.

Buyers in SMU’s latest Flat-Rolled Steel Survey increasingly expect hot-rolled (HR) coil prices to keep climbing into year-end and beyond. But competitive import offers have not yet eased concerns about tight availability: most surveyed manufacturers and service centers said foreign suppliers were quoting competitive prices, while many service centers said they were still buying imports to secure additional tons. As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, current spot prices for HR coil range from $1,280 per short ton (st) to $1,330/st, averaging $1,305/st, according to SMU’s market survey. Looking two months ahead, 41% of respondents to our Oct. 28 survey expected HR coil prices to be $1,300-1,349 per short ton (st) in two months, down from 47% in our survey two weeks earlier.

Nucor said on Monday, Nov. 2, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,280 per short ton (st) this week, up $10/st from last week. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,350/st, also up $10/st from a week earlier. Nucor continues to offer lead times of three to five weeks, according to its letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 27, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,305/st, up $15/st from the previous week.

In my last column, the HRC futures curve was pricing a sizable premium on near-term tightness while still pointing toward eventual normalization. Since then, that basic story has remained intact, but the shape of the curve has shifted meaningfully. Rather than simply moving higher and pushing the peak out by another month, as has largely been the pattern throughout this rally, the curve is now pricing a more pronounced and prolonged period of tightness, while the long end has remained relatively anchored, which previously had also been lifted with the rest of the curve.

The majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey reported that mills continue to hold a firm grip on prices. The share of buyers reporting that mills were negotiable fell this week to the lowest rate seen in over five years. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers asking if mills are negotiable on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, just 3% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down 11 percentage points from our mid-October survey.

Lead times for sheet and plate products continued to lengthen amid historically tight supply, according to the latest SMU steel market survey data. Average lead times now extend into January 2027, with some mills quoting availability well into February. Lead times for all sheet products except Galvalume stand at their highest point since the post-Covid demand snapback in 2021. Plate lead times exceed their 2021 peak, setting a record in our data series, which dates to 2018. (We started collecting sheet lead times earlier, in 2011.)

Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Stelco is not for sale, but he might sell it after operating the company for a period. He said he had come to understand that he was unwelcome in Canada. Separately, in a statement to SMU on Wednesday, Goncalves said he would consider a sale only after Stelco records one year of higher production and brings back all laid-off workers. He clarified it was 175 workers, not 500. He also said he would speak with no potential buyers “real or imaginary” now or during the next calendar year.

Sheet and plate prices continued to press higher this week as the current supply squeeze shows no signs of letting up even as contract season winds down and lead times tip into 2027. The historic rally marks a sharp reversal from last year, when the consensus was that prices would drift lower on uneven demand and new capacity. Steel buyers said it remains difficult to find a domestic mill with spot availability in a market that some said is tighter than in 2021, even if prices haven't spiraled as high as they did then. SMU's price assessment for spot hot-rolled (HR) coil stands at...

Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 26, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,270 per short ton (st) this week, up $15/st from the prior week. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,340/st, up $20/st from last week. Nucor continues to offer lead times of three to five weeks, according to its letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 20, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,290/st, up $10/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 27.

U.S. Steel’s board of directors has approved a nearly $3 billion investment in a new hot strip mill (HSM) at the Edgar Thomson Plant, part of the Mon Valley Works outside Pittsburgh. The project confirms Nippon Steel's commitment to modernize the Mon Valley HSM, a pledge made before and after its acquisition of U.S. Steel. It is part of Nippon's broader $14 billion capital investment plan for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker's facilities.

Sheet and plate prices continue to push higher as mills charge a premium for what little spot tonnage remains for 2026, market participants said. SMU’s price assessment for hot-rolled (HR) coil now stands at $1,290 per short ton (st) on average, up $10/st week over week. HR price gains averaged $5/st w/w throughout July and August, with no changes in prices some weeks and gains of at most $15/st w/w. In September and October to date, in contrast, prices have increased every week—with the average gain at $11.25/st w/w and w/w gains as high as $20/st. Prices for cold-rolled and coated products continued to increase as well. SMU's price assessment for cold-rolled (CR) coil clocked in at...

Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 19, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,255 per short ton (st) this week, up $15/st from the prior week. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,320/st, also up $15/st from last week. Nucor still offers lead times of three to five weeks, according to its letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website.

Lead times for sheet and plate continued to extend amid a domestic supply squeeze, according to the latest SMU steel market survey data. Average lead times stretch into mid- or late December, and those at some mills now extend into 2027. Lead times for all sheet products except Galvalume stand at their highest point since the post-covid demand snapback in 2021. Lead times for plate are now even higher than their 2021 peak.

Sheet buyers found mills slightly more negotiable on price this week, while plate buyers thought mills were less flexible on spot price tags, according to our latest survey data. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers to see whether mills will negotiate on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, 14% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order, up three percentage points from two weeks earlier (Figure 1). This is the highest reading since July 8, when the rate stood at 18%.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil and prime scrap prices widened for the 13th consecutive month in October, hitting another multi-year high. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price stands at $1,280 per short ton (st) on average this week, up $10/st from last week and a $40/st increase from a month earlier. Meanwhile, busheling averaged $480 per gross ton (gt) in October, rising $12.50/gt higher from September.

US flat-rolled steel import licenses climbed in September, extending a recovery after several months of depressed inbound shipments. Licenses rose 4.9% month on month to 679,889 short tons (st), their highest level in 14 months and 29.1% above the 12-month moving average (12MMA) for August, according to Commerce Department data. The increase was led by cold-rolled sheet and other metallic-coated products, with particularly sharp gains in licenses from Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea. Hot-rolled sheet licenses eased from August’s 19-month high, while galvanized sheet, coiled plate and cut-to-length plate also slipped month on month. Even so, licenses for hot-rolled sheet and both plate categories remained elevated relative to their recent averages, pointing to continued strength across several product lines.

US sheet and plate prices continued to march higher this week as a market squeeze that’s been in place for months now showed no signs of letting up. Market participants, some mostly focused on 2027 contract negotiations, said that it was increasingly difficult to even get a quote for spot tonnage from domestic mills, which firmly retain their grip on pricing power. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price stands at...

The US Department of Commerce has adjusted anti-dumping duties on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products from Japan. The adjustment has lowered duties for one company but raised them for others. Commerce made the adjustments in the final results of an administrative review of the year ended Sept. 30, 2024. The agency set a final weighted-average dumping margin of 13.96% for Nippon Steel companies. This is lower than the company’s previous rate of 29.7%.

Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 12, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,240 per short ton (st) this week, a $10/st increase from a week earlier. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,305/st, up $15/st from the prior week. Nucor is still offering lead times of three to five weeks, according to the letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 6, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,270/st, up $10/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Steel markets in the United States now feature supply shortages. Spot tons are well-nigh unavailable, and even contract tons are scarce. Based on the available statistics, the US market for flat-rolled products is seriously constrained. The US economy is still the strongest in the world, and manufacturing output remains vigorous. But the available supply is tight. The reason is fairly obvious. US domestic supply has increased a bit. Meanwhile, imports have fallen significantly.

The Department of Commerce is adjusting the countervailing duties (CVDs) on imports of hot-rolled steel flat products from two South Korean producers. The agency released the final results of its administrative review for calendar year 2023, finding a lower rate for Hyundai but a higher rate for POSCO. Tariff and trade issues have led South Korea to overtake Canada this year as the largest foreign supplier of HR.

Steel imports into the US crept higher in August and continued climbing in September, according to the Department of Commerce's latest import license data. August imports rose 3.4% from July to a 15-month high. September license data collected through Oct. 5 shows another 6.2% month-on-month increase. Imports continue to recover from some of the lowest levels since 2020, seen late last year through February this year.

Sheet and plate prices continued to move higher on market dynamics that have carried headlines for much of the second half of the year: scarce spot tons, long lead times, production delays, lean inventories, and stable demand.

Nucor's consumer spot price for hot-rolled increased by $10/st w/w on Monday, Oct. 5 to $1,230 per short ton.

Steel mill lead times continued to expand for sheet and plate products this week, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.

The overall mill negotiation rate ticked up slightly this week, but the overwhelming majority of buyers are still finding mills inflexible on price, according to our latest survey data.

Sheet and plate prices continued to inch higher on a combination of scarce spot tons, long lead times, lean inventories, and stable demand.