US hot-rolled coil index jumps over $1,190/t

Confirmed deals have driven hot-rolled coil prices in the United States over $59.50 per hundredweight ($1,190 per short ton), to an all-time high.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $59.63 per cwt ($1,192.60 per ton) on Thursday February 11, up by 0.98% from $59.05 per cwt the previous day and 0.68% higher than $59.23 per cwt one week ago.

Inputs were received in a range from $58.00-62.50 per cwt, representing confirmed deals, mill offers and general assessments of spot market pricing levels. A transactional input was carried over within the producer sub-index to minimize day-to-day volatility.

Heard in the market
This marks the third time in a week that Fastmarkets’ hot-rolled coil index has set a new all-time high, after climbing to $59.23 per cwt on Thursday February 4 and $59.24 per cwt on Monday February 8, and sources do not expect the flat-rolled steel segment’s historic bull market to retreat any time soon.

Lead times have remained stable and supply continues to be restricted to an unprecedented degree, with activity in the automotive; heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC); and non-residential construction segments still strong.

At the same time, the global shortage of computer chips has yet to dent steel demand from the automotive end market, sources said, while the arrival of imported flat-rolled steel expected in late spring will not be sufficient to ease the current shortfall or pressure domestic prices lower.

Quote of the day
“Supply is flat-out atrocious,” a consumer source said. “Demand is strong, and mills are still running two-plus weeks behind.”

What to read next
Here are the key takeaways from market participants on US ferrous scrap metal prices, market confidence, inventory and more from our July survey.
With steel reinforcing bar (rebar) producer Hybar’s first mill in Osceola, Arkansas, in operation for only nine months, the company announced last week that it had raised $1.1 billion to build a second rebar expansion mill next to the existing one.
New York-headquartered global commodities company Hartree Partners will take the first 330,000 tonnes of copper concentrate from Blue Moon Metals' Nussir project in Norway, Christian Kargl-Simard, the critical metals developer's chief executive officer, told Fastmarkets on Monday July 6.
The transition of the iron ore market to a 61% Fe pricing benchmark is reshaping trading dynamics and leading participants across the value chain to reassess grade preferences, emerging demand centers and the growing importance of product quality in a decarbonizing steel sector, according to panelists speaking at the panel discussion “The benchmark transition ​and its implication from different voices​” at Iron Ore Decoded 2026, a conference co-organized by Fastmarkets and Horizon Insights.​
Iron ore market participants said Simandou’s production ramp-up remains on track to meet market expectations, with growing exports from Guinea expected to influence freight markets, high-grade ore pricing and steel decarbonization strategies.
For most of the last decade, Alcoa has been shrinking itself into a better company. It sold assets, shut high-cost operations, repaired its balance sheet and preached capital discipline.