US Midwest HRC index slips below $920 per ton
Published by:Robert England<>
7 May 2025 @ 20:34 UTC

Hot-rolled coil prices edged lower on Wednesday May 7, falling below $920 per short ton for the first time since March 7, with buyers expecting prices to continue declining throughout the summer. Fastmarkets’ dailysteel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest was calculated at $45.99 per hundredweight ($919.80 per short ton) on Wednesday, down by 0.59% from $46.31 per cwt on Tuesday May 6, and down by 1.69% from $46.75 per cwt a week earlier.
Inputs were collected in the buyer sub-index in the range of $44-47 per cwt, representing offers and general assessments of spot market activity.
Inputs were rolled over in the seller sub-index due to a lack of liquidity.
Heard in the market Sources described demand as stable and steady, even though a lot of buyers ran up inventory levels when prices were rapidly rising earlier this year.
Buyers said they are hesitant to place new orders since they believe that they can wait another month and pay less.
Lead times are reportedly three to five weeks.
Quote of the day Funny how things can change quickly. Not long ago, there were deals done around the $600 [per ton] range for HRC base. The euphoria of a pro-business president pushed prices up quickly. Now, there are rumors of deals being done below $800 [per ton] for HRC base prices, a steel buyer said.