Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) -the posted base price it charges for hot-rolled coils (HRC) across all of its regional mills- was reported stable today at $1,135/nt ($1,257/mt), or $56.75/cwt., though the price remains $5/nt higher than the $1,130/nt ($1,246/mt) or $56.50/cwt. on an FOB mill basis reported two weeks earlier. Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) base price, was also stable at $1,185/nt ($1,306/mt), or $59.25/cwt., though it was up from $1,180/nt ($1,301/mt), or $59.00/cwt., on an FOB mill basis two weeks ago.
Prior to last week’s $5/nt weekly gains Nucor pricing was stable for two previous weeks, following a string of 23 consistent weekly price increases.
Flat steel insiders told SteelOrbis recent Nucor CSP price increases reflect continued strength in US finished steel markets as well as the effects of sharp reductions in global finished steel imports that came about as a result of Section 232 steel tariffs which reduced finished steel imports by more than 30 percent versus year-ago levels.
Recent elevated oil prices as a result of heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also were said to be adding to fundamentals driving rising prices across the entire finished steel value chain, insiders told SteelOrbis.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded July 20 at about $82 per barrel (/bbl), up from $78/bbl one week earlier as a result of renewed military action in Iran after a shaky ceasefire ended. Brent crude oil sold at about $88/bbl, up from $83/bbl one week earlier.
As available supplies remain reduced by a lack of imports, and as US mills seek to manage annual maintenance requirements, insiders said US mills continue to produce at levels in excess of 78.8 percent of capacity, off from the 79.7 percent of capacity reported one week prior, though still up from the 77.7 percent capacity level reported during the same week in 2025.
On the raw materials front, while June ferrous scrap trade was characterized by a largely sideways trend, despite some early bearish sentiment following the Memorial Day weekend, July scrap traded largely flat to June levels, though off $10-20/gt in limited regions in the US South.
In weekly HRC spot markets, the SteelOrbis HRC price average price closed the week ended July 17 up $2/nt to $1,160/nt ($1,279/mt), or $58/cwt., up from $1,158/nt ($1,258/mt), or $57.90/cwt., on an FOB mill basis one week earlier.
Since the end of October, when CSP prices started a steady weekly advance following an eight-week period of stability at $875/nt, the Nucor CSP has increased 32.57 percent.
