Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) -the price charges for hot-rolled coils across all of its mills- continued to fall for a fourth week, amid mixed scrap prices and reports of steady to lower finished steel prices for June, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
Following last week’s decline of $20/nt, Nucor’s CSP price declined another $10/nt to $870/nt ($959/mt) or $43.50/cwt., compared with $880/nt ($970/mt) or $44.00/cwt. one week earliear, both FOB mill. Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) base monitor also dropped by $20/nt to $920/nt ($1,014/mt) or $46.00/cwt.
This week’s SteelOrbis spot HRC quotes are reported in a wide range of $800-890/nt ($882-891/mt), or $40.00-44.50/cwt., with the weekly average up by $12.50/nt to $847.50/nt ($934/mt) or about $42.00/cwt. Despite this week’s modest price increase, SteelOrbis’ weekly pricing data indicates that spot HRC pricing has declined by almost 11 percent or $102.50/nt ($113/mt), since the yearly HRC spot price peak of $950/nt ($1,047/mt) recorded during the week of March 17.
In late March and early April, the Nucor CSP monitor reached its highest reported level ($935/nt) since online reporting began in April 2024. Following an extended period of stable CSP pricing, prices increased in late January and continued to rise by almost 25 percent as the introduction of tariffs approached. High scrap prices in the first quarter and reports of ‘panic buying ahead of the start of tariffs’ in early April boosted finished steel values, according to market insiders who spoke to SteelOrbis. June scrap is now mixed, with some contacts reporting prices down by $20/gt compared to recent May settlements, while others describe the June market as steady to up, due to better export scrap expectations.
Since the industry release of the Nucor CSP in April 2024, flagging demand for finished steel has resulted in Nucor reducing its CSP to as low as $650/nt ($717/mt) — Nucor's so-called ‘break-even price’.
