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 steady this week, the first such instance in six months, the mill said today in a letter to its customers.
Following a 23rd straight increase, the Nucor CSP was reported steady today at $1,130/nt ($1,246/mt) or $56.50/cwt., following last week’s $5/nt increase on an FOB mill basis.
Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) base price, also was unchanged at $1,180/nt ($1,301/mt), or $59.00/cwt., though up $5/nt from the previous week’s $1,175/n t ($1,295/mt), or $58.75/cwt., FOB mill posted price.
“While our CSP price (was) unchanged this week as we monitor import levels as well as domestic and global price dynamics, underlying demand is strong and improving, with current indicators pointing to continued strength through the back half of 2026 and into 2027,” Nucor said in its weekly customer letter.
Flat steel insiders told SteelOrbis the recent Nucor CSP price increases remain primarily the result of continued strength in US finished steel markets, the effects of sharp reductions in global finished steel imports as a result of ongoing Section 232 steel tariffs which have reduced finished steel imports more than 30 percent versus year-ago levels.
And, despite US President Trump’s recent though rocky peace deal with Iran, energy costs will most likely remain elevated short term as markets unwind following more than three months of armed conflict in the Middle East. Elevated energy price levels are likely to continue to contribute to continued strength in finished steel prices, insiders say, even as trade through the previously US blockaded Strait of Hormuz is now said to be open, even as spotty strikes against Iran continue it seems on a daily basis.
Current West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded at $70.40-$70.50 per barrel on June 29, off from $73.00-75/bl one week earlier, though still up about $1.20-$1.40/bbl on the day, the result of renewed concerns about tanker traffic amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 20 percent of global oil traffic flows on a daily basis.
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 80.2 percent of capacity to make up local supply shortfalls, insiders said. And while current capacity levels are off from a week earlier when levels were reported at 80.5 percent capacity, weekly data shows current production remains 3.3 percent higher than during the same week in 2025.
Participants in the US domestic ferrous scrap trade said this month’s scrap trade was characterized by a largely sideways trend, despite some early bearish sentiment following the Memorial Day weekend. July scrap is expected to trade flat near June levels, with a potential for higher prime scrap prices mentioned in weekly surveys as prime scrap supplies are said to be more limited than those for cut grades, scrap insiders told SteelOrbis.
In weekly HRC spot markets, the SteelOrbis HRC price average price closed the week ended June 26 up $5/nt to finish the week at $1,130/nt ($1,180/mt), or $56.50/cwt., up from the previous week’s $10/nt increase to $1,125/nt, ($1,240/mt), or $56.25/cwt., on an FOB mill basis.
US spot supplies of finished steel have remained under pressure recently from a continued paucity of steel imports, the result of ongoing 50 percent Section 232 steel import tariffs, put in place by US President Trump in June 2025.
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 had increased 29.14 percent.
