USA HRC Spot Price Coalesces Around $1,180/ton; MBQ Offers Increased
With the spot market for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the US settling in early this week at around $1,180 per ton according to buy- and sell-side market participants, Nucor was the first domestic long products producer to announce another increase for merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel. The last MBQ hike came late last month. In fact, both long- and flat product markets are being fueled by strong demand—not only in the US, but now also Canada, according to one major North American service center.
Canada’s Russel Metals, a big North American service center/distributor that serves both US and Canadian recently addressed the tight flat-rolled supply environment on its Q2 earnings call. Its price for US plate and hot-rolled coil averaged US$1,291 per ton and US$1,084 per ton, respectively, in the second quarter of 2026, which represented increases of 20% for plate and 11% for HRC versus the first quarter of 2026.
CEO, President and Director John Reid said the company is seeing mill lead times extend further than they have historically, some going out well into next year. “And so, it’s creating an environment of project planning where customers are coming to us to make sure they have product,” he noted.
Reid emphasized that while supply is tight right now in the industry, Russel has access to product that others might not. “And so that’s helping us,” he said. “People are securing their needs and making commitments with open-ended pricing right now.”
Demand continues to strengthen in both countries, according to Reid. “The US was extremely busy. Canada was languishing a little bit and started picking up steam, but really starting in May and going forward into June, July and now into August, we’ve seen Canada start to really pick up,” he said. “The drivers that we’re seeing on that is predominantly across all end markets in the US and we’ve mentioned Ag(riculture) before as being a laggard, (but) it is starting to pick up.”
Regarding the demand side, Reid pointed to projects happening in the US and in Canada, “whether it’s LNG, whether it has to do with data centers that are being built.” He described Western Canada as being “extremely busy right now for us on multiple projects that are either being pushed by the government or private industry.”
Reid acknowledged: “And so we’re really starting to see all tides rise right now, which is a nice place for us to be in. When you look at demand, even the rig counts in both countries are up year-over-year. So again, it’s very good for our energy business. It’s very good for our service center business right now.”
Meanwhile, while Nucor raised its weekly Consumer Spot Price (CSP) for HRC by just $5 to $1,160 per ton on Monday, late last Friday it implemented another round of MBQ hikes. In a letter to customers, Nucor said, “Effective for new orders received after the close of business on August 7th, 2026, Nucor Bar Mill Group will increase prices on all Merchant Bar Quality (MBQ) products by $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt).”
It added: “Select larger structural sizes will increase by an additional $50 per ton for a total increase of $80 per ton ($4.00/cwt), as detailed below:”
Nucor noted that the price adjustments detailed above “incorporate—and are not in addition to—the channel increases announced on July 31st , 2026.” Its Bar Mill Group added that all confirmed orders as of the close of business on August 7 th will be price-protected if shipped by end of business day, August 21st, 2026.