Most steel buyers responding to our latest market survey report that domestic mills are willing to talk price to secure new orders. Mill negotiability has continued to rise across all sheet and plate products we track, now at some of the highest levels recorded since late 2024.
Sheet and plate prices marginally declined again this week for the second consecutive week, pausing the strong downward trend seen from April through early May.
Nucor has lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled coil by $10 per short ton (st), marking the fourth consecutive weekly decrease.
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat again with the opening of its July order book.
Here are highlights of what’s happened and a few things to keep an eye on this upcoming week.
According to our latest analysis, prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials we track increased from April to May. However, select materials saw a collective 1% decline month over month and are down 4% compared to three months ago.
Cleveland-Cliffs opened its June order book for spot material at $910 per short ton (st).
One cause of this was increased competitiveness from imports that have put pressure on some domestic producers.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.
Most sheet and plate prices edged lower again this week, albeit at a slower pace compared to the movements seen over the last seven weeks. Buyers remain cautious and hesitant to hold onto much inventory, citing lingering demand concerns, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and a potentially weakening scrap market in June.
Nucor has lowered its consumer spot price by $20 per short ton, marking the third consecutive weekly decrease.
While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.
Market participants in both the US and Europe noted that most buyers are patiently waiting for prices to reduce as they have enough inventory at hand.
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices were down again this week, slipping six weeks in a row and seeing the sharpest drop-off since last July.
Domestic mills are largely negotiable on spot prices, according to the majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey.
All of SMU’s sheet and plate steel price indices declined this week, easing by $30-40 per short ton (st) on average since early May. Prices continue to slide lower as buyers remain on the sidelines, wary of holding much excess inventory and expecting further declines.
Nucor lowered its weekly spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil for a second straight week, down $10 per short ton (st), after keeping it in a holding pattern for most of April.
SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics earlier this week, including market prices and demand, tariffs and reshoring, inventories and imports, and evolving market trends.
Steel buyers said Nucor’s price decrease was a public acknowledgement of what most of the market had already known - that sheet prices were moving lower in a more significant way. The question now is whether mills and service centers will manage the decline or whether prices might fall rapidly, they said.
Please take a moment to complete our short survey and share your views on how our prices, methodologies, and definitions can better support your work. Your feedback plays a key role in how we continue to serve you and the wider steel market.
After holding its weekly spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil steady for three weeks at $930 per short ton (st), Nucor lowered the price this week by $20/st.
SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through April 30.
With so much happening in the news cycle, we want to make it easier. Here are highlights of what’s happened and a few things to keep an eye on this upcoming week.
Nearly two thirds of the steel buyers who responded to this week’s SMU survey say domestic mills are negotiable on spot prices. This increasing flexibility marks a significant shift from the firmer stance mills held in recent months.
Section 232 returned on March 12, and since then, the price gap between offshore and US hot band has tightened.
Most sheet and plate steel prices declined yet again this week, with four of SMU’s five indices moving lower.
SMU’s Mill Order Index declined in March after repeated gains at the start of the year, according to our latest service center inventories data.
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat with the opening of its June order book.
Nucor’s weekly consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil remained unchanged this week.
Chinese export prices for longs were almost steady this week, while those for flats generally declined as producers cut prices to secure deals.