Published by: Alesha Alkaff<>
1 Apr 2025 @ 20:36 UTC

Carbon steel plate prices in the US decreased on Tuesday April 1, with sources questioning if current plate demand could prop the market in the near term.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US decreased to $57 per hundredweight ($1,140 per short ton) on Tuesday, down by 5% from $60 per cwt a week earlier on March 25.
Inputs were collected in a range from $50-60 per cwt, representing offers on the lower end of the range and assessments of the general spot market.
Plate demand is stable, sources told Fastmarkets, and most market participants are awaiting the impact of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on automakers set to take effect on Wednesday April 2.
Demand is good enough, but not great, as it appears folks bought heavy early and are slowing down or taking a pause, a distributor said.
Demand is average at best from the service center side, a second distributor said.
The market is indeed quiet, though at a higher level of demand than we have seen in a long time, a third distributor said. The spot market is likely to jump sharply depending on what Trump announces.
The third distributor added, Demand destruction seems ever more likely as the scope of tariffs expands. Nobody wants demand destruction, or will at least admit to it, but a blanket tax, and the resulting higher interest rates, will deliver it to our collective doorsteps anyway.
Despite the reportedly quiet plate market among distributors, steelmaker Nucor increased plate prices by $40 per ton on Friday March 28, effective immediately, raising the question of current demand.
Actual demand is not strong enough, but plate mills are trying to bridge the gap between now and August and September, when real demand is supposed to kick in, a fourth distributor told Fastmarkets.
Lead times for plate are reportedly around five to six weeks.
Weekly Midwest HRC average falls; spread vs plate narrows Hot band prices in the US Midwest decreased during the assessment period from Wednesday March 26 to Tuesday, with HRC market sources reporting sluggish spot demand led by the uncertainty around tariffs.
In the assessment period, Nucor held its weekly consumer spot price announcement on Monday March 31 at a $46.75 per cwt base price for the steelmaker’s hot-rolled products for the remainder of this week.
Fastmarkets’ steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest averaged $47.04 per cwt during the assessment period ended Tuesday, lower by 0.86% from the average of $47.45 per cwt average a week earlier.
The fall of plate prices outpaced that of hot band prices, narrowing the spread between the two products to $9.96 per cwt, down by 20.64% from $12.55 per cwt in the previous assessment.
Fastmarkets’ cut-to-length plate assessment includes raw materials surcharges.