US Midwest HRC index ticks up amid subdued trading, average demand
Published by:Melissa VanDervort<>
24 Apr 2025 @ 20:40 UTC

Hot-rolled coil prices in the US Midwest edged up on Thursday April 24, with sources reporting ongoing minimal trading and stable underlying demand in the hot band market. Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest was calculated at $48.30 per hundredweight ($966 per short ton) on Thursday, up by 0.46% from $48.08 per cwt on Wednesday April 23 and by 3.03% from $46.88 per cwt a week earlier on April 17.
Inputs were collected in the buyer sub-index in the range of $46-48 per cwt, representing assessments of the general spot market.
Inputs were rolled over in the seller sub-index due to lack of liquidity.
Heard in the market Spot trading continues to be limited in the hot band market, sources told Fastmarkets, although overall demand remains steady.
A Midwest distributor said that while order entry is currently stable, purchases in the hot-rolled market are down considerably from the corresponding period last year.
Lead times are four to six weeks, sources said.
Quote of the day Pricing is holding up somewhat better, as I don’t think there are many transactions happening [in the market right now], a second distributor said.