HRC price in US steady at around $55/cwt

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States were largely steady at the start of the week, although some are questioning when the recent run in the market might end.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $55.07 per hundredweight ($1,101.40 per short ton) on Monday January 25, up by just 3 cents from $55.04 per cwt on Friday but down by 3.3% from $56.92 per cwt one week earlier.

Inputs were collected in a range of $54-58 per cwt across all three sub-indices, with producer assessments at the low end but other mill offers reported by distributors at the high end. A transactional input was carried over to the producer sub-index at the assessor’s discretion.

Market participants on Monday put current market pricing for spot tons at around $55 per cwt, which is where transactions were reported, although mills are still quoting (and getting) much higher prices based on tight availability. Lead times are said to be into late March, or even early April, putting them at eight to 12 weeks.

Participants are wondering when the HRC price rally will run out of steam. Scrap prices are expected to take a pause in February, but on the flipside steel supply remains severely constrained, they said. Some don’t expect a respite until the second half of the year, based on current low service center inventories.

Quotes of the day
“I’m told the mills are more disciplined now than they’ve ever been,” one southern distributor source said.

“We haven’t had to go out for spot tons, but if you’re buying from a service center you’ll be paying through the nose,” one consumer source said.

Patrick Fitzgerald and Dom Yanchunas, both in New York, contributed to this report.

What to read next
Fastmarkets’ SBQ price assessments and monthly forecast provide much-needed clarity and a benchmark for buyers in the steel industry to use for planning and negotiation.
American Chambers of Commerce (Amcham) across Latin America are calling for urgent negotiations to prevent the escalation of trade tensions between their countries and the US, following the announcement of sweeping 50% tariffs by President Donald Trump.
Explore the latest trends in lumber markets as vacation time and economic uncertainty impact sales and trading activity.
The lower end of the price range for Biodiesel SME B100 fob US Gulf price on Friday July 18 was erroneously published at $2.243 per gallon. This has been corrected to $4.243 per gallon. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated to reflect this change. These prices are part of the Fastmarkets Ags oils, fats and biofuels price […]
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-BMS-0015 Black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, exw USA, % payable LME Nickel cash official price, which was published incorrectly on Wednesday, July 16.
This strategic launch is designed to better delineate the relationship between these two competing steelmaking materials. The differentials offer the market a single reference price denoting the spread between Turkey import billet and No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap (80:20) and between Turkey import billet and shredded scrap exported from the US East Coast respectively. […]