US HRC spot prices surge to 12-year high

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have surpassed $930 per short ton, reaching levels not seen in well over a decade.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $46.78 per hundredweight ($935.60 per ton) on Monday December 14, up by 2.8% from $45.49 per cwt on Friday and by 6.6% from $43.89 per cwt one week earlier.

Inputs were received in a wide range of roughly $41-51.50 per cwt. The index’s outlier filter automatically removed inputs on the low, and high end of this range. This range represents confirmed purchases, deals heard, mill offers and assessments of current spot market prices.

Heard in the market
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices have eclipsed the post-Section 232 high of $45.84 per cwt on July 5, 2018, and now stand at their highest level since reaching $48 per cwt in late-September 2008.

US spot prices continue to soar due to an unprecedented supply squeeze, surging input costs and a complete absence of pressure from imported material.

Sources said spot prices continue to get more aggressive, with some quotes valid for only 24 hours.

Although end-market demand is strong and continues to recover from the Covid-19-induced nadir experienced during the spring of this year, supply-side considerations are the most significant source of upward pressure boosting spot market prices to historic highs.

Quotes of the day
“[Prices] are even more aggressive… Quotes are valid for only a day,” a southern service center source said.

“Demand is decently strong, but it’s all supply side driven,” a second southern service center source said of spot prices.

“The question is how high it’ll get? Is it $1000 [per ton], $1,200 [per ton]?” he added.

“The consistent buyers are the ones that are going to be okay,” a consumer source said.

Michael Cowden in Chicago contributed to this story.

What to read next
The United States' copper recycling industry is ramping up pressure on policymakers to impose some form of export controls on high-purity copper scrap, arguing that current trade dynamics – particularly with China – are distorting prices, weakening domestic capacity and undermining national security goals.
After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets is amending the below specifications, following no negative feedback from market participants and internal data analysis. The following changes will take place: The new specifications are as follows, with amendments in italics: MB-CU-0002 Copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US, US cents/lb Quality: Grade A 99.9935% min copper cathode conforming to LME […]
Explore the implications of the 50% tariff on the pulp market, impacting trade dynamics and costs for industries reliant on pulp.
The global copper market has finally received the widely anticipated news that imports to the US will be tariffed from August 1. The finer details of the tariffs, including their scope, and whether key copper-exporting nations like Chile, Canada and Peru will be exempt, remain unclear.
Understand how recent tariff decisions are affecting the European pulp and paper industry and trade with the US market.
Mexico’s production and consumption of long steel fell year-on-year in May due to weakness in the country's construction sector, but posted a month on month gain, according to the latest data from the Mexican steel chamber, CANACERO.