Final decision on open consultation on methodology for Northern Europe, US HRC indices [corrected]

Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, € per tonne (MB-STE-0028) and steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest, $ per cwt (MB-STE-0184), via an open consultation process between March 24 and April 24, 2025.

This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.

No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore no changes will be made to the methodologies at this stage.

This notice of the decision was delayed past its original May 1 schedule.

This consultation sought to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency.

You can find the current methodology for the Northern Europe HRC index here.

The methodology for the US HRC index can be found here.

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

(An earlier version of this notice incorrectly stated that the consultation ran from March 24 to April 24, 2024. It was also described in the headline as an open consultation not a final decision.)

What to read next
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest for Tuesday May 19 was published earlier than scheduled due to an error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
The four assessments will cover continental Europe and the UK, for tissue jumbo rolls made from wood pulp and recycled pulp in a basis weight range of 14.5-18.0g per square meter. The decision follows a one-month consultation period that ended on Saturday May 16. The proposed specifications are as follows: FP-TS-0009 Tissue, wood pulp jumbo rolls for […]
Fastmarkets is clarifying the publishing schedule for two Saudi Arabia steel price assessments following confirmation of the dates of the Eid al-Adha holiday.  The two price assessments affected are as follows: MB-STE-0909 – Steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Saudi Arabia, riyals/tonne MB-STE-0940 – Steel billet, import, cfr Saudi Arabia, $/tonne The domestic rebar price assessment […]
Alex Kershaw unpacks the recent volatility in global scrap steel markets and what is driving price movements across key regions. From the US and Europe to Turkey and China, the discussion explores how rising energy and freight costs are lifting prices despite weak steel demand.
In this short episode of Fast Forward, Alex Kershaw, senior analyst for steel, raw materials and ferrous scrap at Fastmarkets, unpacks the recent volatility in global scrap steel markets and what is driving price movements across key regions.
As Brazil implemented protective measures against Chinese flat steel — enforcing anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled coil, coated steel, and pre-painted steel sequentially since early 2026 — China's monthly exports of finished steel to the country declined to their lowest levels since 2024, significantly reducing a market that previously consumed over 400,000 tonnes per month.