Published by: Rachel McGuire<>
1 Apr 2025 @ 20:53 UTC

Hot-rolled coil prices declined on Tuesday April 1, ahead of the imminent announcement of reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump, as buyers hold on to supply after panic buying in the weeks leading to the tariffs subsided.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest was calculated at $47.25 per hundredweight ($945 per short ton) on Tuesday, down by 0.17% from $47.33 per cwt on Monday March 31 and by 0.15% from $47.32 per cwt a week earlier on March 25.
Inputs were collected in the range of $46.00-$47.50 per cwt in the buyer sub-index, representing general assessments of the spot market and offers.
Inputs were rolled over in the seller sub-index due to lack of liquidity.
Heard in the market Buyers in the market adopted a wait-and-see approach amid Trump’s looming tariffs.
The tariffs, set to begin Wednesday April 2, could lead to upward movement in price, according to sources.
Market participants told Fastmarkets that if Trump does not implement the tariffs as planned, the uncertainty could cause HRC prices to fall further. However, some buyers report that suppliers are not decreasing offer levels, despite buyer expectations that they would.
Sources said most buyers fulfilled supply needs in the previous weeks before the tariffs, leading to extended lead times. As buyers pause new purchases, lead times should decline, a buyer source said.
But uncertainty surrounds the market, with most sources unsure what demand and pricing will look like after the tariffs are in place.
Also, demand is weak for the automotive industry, sources said.
Layoffs for steel workers and stalled production at one mill are a result of weak demand for cars and a lack of consumer confidence, a trader reported.
Lead times were reported to be between three and six weeks.
Quote of the day Everything has slowed down. The phones are not ringing like they were, and volume has decreased, a distributor said. I think people got scared, placed their panic buys and now they have full inventories.