US South HRC index rebounds above $950_ton
US South HRC index rebounds above $950/ton
Published by:Chris Kavanagh<>
11 Apr 2025 @ 02:57 UTC
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States South edged back above $950 per short ton on Wednesday April 9, despite a continued spot market slowdown amid market uncertainty. Fastmarkets’ weekly steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US South was calculated at $47.76 per hundredweight ($955.20 per short ton) on Wednesday April 9, up by 2.03% from $46.81 per cwt on Wednesday April 2.
Inputs were collected in both the buyer and seller sub-indices in a range from $46.75-50.00 per cwt on Wednesday, representing deals, offers and general assessments of market activity.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US Midwest was calculated at $48.08 per cwt on Wednesday, up by 1.91% from $47.18 per cwt the week prior on Wednesday April 2. On April 7, steelmaker Nucor once again announced that it would hold its weekly consumer spot price for hot-rolled products at a $46.75 per cwt ($935 per ton) base for the remainder of the week.
The market remains marred by uncertainty amid the ongoing tariff turmoil seen over the recent several weeks, sources said.
Import policies have brought many questions and concerns for the economy, a trader source said.
I would call the broader market reaction to Wednesday’s tariff announcements as being hard to gauge relative to steel market demand specifically…in other words too early to tell, a steel mill source said.
Market participants illustrated a cautious spot purchasing environment, with buyers awaiting more clarity on the state of the economy.
It has been a quiet time for us. We have inventory and have not transacted anything lately, a service center source said.
While some sources suspect overall demand is healthy and the slowed spot market is a temporary side effect of tariff uncertainty, others expressed skepticism as to whether the market is due to improve.
Due to seasonality, we should have seen ramping up in demand for steel goods at the time of this year. I don’t know if demand [will] improve later this year…at least it has not moved up yet, the trader source said.