September 30, 2025: US HRC Spot Prices Steady Amid Subdued Activity
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Spot prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the US market haven’t moved much at all lately, generally ranging from $810- $850 per ton for typical size orders, according to buyers and sellers. In fact, Nucor retained its Consumer Spot Price (CSP) for HRC at $875 per ton for a sixth straight week.
“There is still some discounting on heavy volumes down around $800 per ton,” a Midwest service center executive told WSD Monday, “but these are very limited.”
Added a steel trader: “It seems the market is poised to firm and there might be a confidence boost for producers stemming from the ITC determination on CORE (steel products).” See related story below.
“Pricing has remained essentially unchanged for the last couple of weeks, but activity has increased for spot buying, resulting in more transactions at the lower end of the pricing range,” Jason Miller, vice president at Worthington Steel for Purchasing/Cost Planning, wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. He pegged HRC spot at $800-$875 per ton in the market, noting “it appears that fewer mills are participating in the lower end of the range.”
Miller added that lead times are extending in some areas as mills report an uptick in activity, and scheduled outages are starting to have an impact. Other market participants tell WSD that the southern US market for HRC is stronger than the Midwest—with some mill lead times now well into November.
Nonetheless, “Buyers do not yet seem to be buying in that prices may be at a bottom, but they usually wait too long anyway,” Miller added.
He expects contract bookings to be healthy in October, “as some may believe there is little room to lower the monthly price further.”
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