Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) -the price it charges for hot-rolled coils across all of its mills- was stable today for a second week as many countries are scurrying to finalize reciprocal trade agreements with the US Trump administration before an extended Aug. 1 deadline imposed on July 9 by the US president passes.
This week’s CSP is reported at $900/nt, ($992/mt), or $45.00/cwt., unchanged from seven days earlier. This week’s stable pricing follows a period of three consecutive weeks where the price was steady at $910/nt, ($1,003/mt), or $45.50/cwt. Nucor’s California Steel Industries (SCI) base price also was steady for a second week at $960/nt ($1,058/mt), $48.00/cwt., off from $970/nt ($1,069/mt) or $48.50/cwt., a price it also held for three straight weeks.
With the exception of the UK at 25 percent, current Section 232 tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum remain at 50 percent, having been doubled from 25 percent on June 4 by Trump. Higher duties on imported steel are expected to continue to pressure domestic steel prices higher. In 2024, US imported about 23 percent of steel requirements from Canada, with about 16 percent and 12 percent from Brazil and Mexico, respectively.
On the tariff front, this past week, the US reached a tariff deal with Japan, setting a rate of 15 percent, while a deal with the EU was reached July 27 for a 15 percent tariff rate. A week before, tariffs of 35 percent were announced for Canada, 30 percent for Mexico, 50 percent for Brazil, and 19 percent for Indonesia and the Philippines.
This week’s new reciprocal tariff announcements follow an earlier 50% levy on all copper imports from all countries into the US, as well as a possible 200% tariff on imported pharmaceuticals.
On the spot pricing side, the SteelOrbis spot HRC weekly average price was reported slightly higher this past week at an average $870/nt ($959/mt) or $43.50/cwt., up from $860/nt ($948/mt), or $43.00/cwt., one week earlier. Market insiders told SteelOrbis this past week that the potential for sideways to potentially higher August scrap pricing could keep flat and long spot prices higher into September, especially if tariffs on imported pig iron from Brazil are enforced at 50 percent effective Aug. 1.