HRC price stable at $51.25/cwt in US, but for how long?

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States were stable on Wednesday December 30 compared with recent days.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $51.25 per hundredweight ($1,025 per short ton) on Wednesday, up by 0.1% from $51.22 per cwt a day earlier and by 2.4% from $50.06 per cwt on December 23.

Input providers submitted assessments at exactly $51.25 per cwt in both the distributor and producer sub-indices. The assessor carried over non-transaction data in the consumer sub-index from the previous pricing period due to a lack of liquidity there.

Heard in the market

There is not much activity or dialogue this week, given the holiday schedule and lack of spot tons, some sources said. Many buyers have “sticker shock,” worsened by recent increases in truck freight rates due to a driver shortage, they said.

The current price rally is not expected to end until the summer, some market participants said. Prices could start to fall before then in the form of small corrections here and there, but prices will not drop precipitously overall, they said.

Quote of the day

“The price is what anyone will pay right now, that’s the crazy thing,” a producer source said. “If you need coil… what’s that worth to you?”

What to read next
Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia is set for a major revival, after years of under-investment and political uncertainty. The move is being driven by a convergence of capital, government support and shifting geopolitics, according to a senior executive at CopperTech Metals.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest, $/cwt for Thursday November 13 was published earlier than scheduled due to an error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Participants in the antimony market were questioning whether China might resume antimony exports to the US following the trade truce signaled during the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in South Korea last week.
Fastmarkets launched MB-STE- 0944 steel hot-rolled coil index, delivered Los Angeles, on Tuesday November 11, 2025.
China suspends its ban on gallium exports to the US until 2026. Discover the impact of this significant policy change.
The Supreme Court is examining whether former President Trump exceeded his authority by imposing IEEPA tariffs during a national emergency, a case that could redefine the limits of presidential power and influence global trade dynamics.