US flat steel prices continued to post weekly advances amid reports of steady US steel demand and limited tariff-reduced supply, even as global oil prices showed a steady retreat amid a shaky at best US-Iran 60-day ceasefire deal.
SteelOrbis weekly assessments show spot hot-rolled coil (HRC) pricing on an FOB mill basis continued $5/nt higher, posting a 16th straight weekly advance, settling on average at $1,130/nt ($1,246/mt), or $56.50/cwt., up from a reported $1,125/nt ($1,240/mt), or $56.25/cwt., weekly assessment one week earlier.
“With (reduced steel) imports due to tariffs, longer (domestic) steel production lead times, and logistics price increases, we see that there is a very competitive market and demand on the domestic side,” remarked one US Gulf Coast-based flat steel insider that tracks the price of flat steel imports. “While we are seeing that domestic prices are relatively similar to imports delivered into the US, (domestic) mill capacity limitations could be a factor for more attractive import pricing,” he said. “Orders placed today could arrive during an expected declining domestic spot market in the fall, thereby increasing near-term risk levels.”
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce shows US imports of hot-rolled sheet totaled 35,621 metric tons during April, the nearest month for which data is available, a level 58.5 percent less than in March, and 58.6 percent less than reported during the equivalent period in 2025.
On the domestic steel mill front, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) -the posted base price it charges for HRC across all of its regional mills- also was reported up again for a 23rd straight week, rising another $5/nt to $1,130/nt ($1,246/mt), or $56.50/cwt., up from last week’s $10/nt to $1,125/nt ($1,240/mt), or $56.25/cwt. Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) base price, also settled up another $5/nt to $1,180/nt ($1,301/mt), following last week’s $10/nt increase to $1,175/n t ($1,295/mt), or $58.75/cwt.
In the cold-rolled markets, the SteelOrbis domestic price average increased $12/nt to finish the week at $1,345/nt ($1,483/mt), or $67.25/cwt., delivered FOB mill, up from $1,333/nt ($1,469/mt), or $66.65/cwt. Based on a $5/nt rise in weekly HRC prices and another $12/nt increase in weekly CRC values, the current spread between the two key steel grades increased another $7/nt on the week to another recent high of $215/nt or $10.75/cwt.
In the hot-dipped galvenized markets, spot pricing on an FOB mill basis increased to on average $1,340/nt ($1,477/mt), or $67.00/cwt., up from $1,325/nt ($1,461/mt), or $66.25/cwt., one week earlier.
At last report, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) sold at $69.00-69.50 per barrel (/bbl) on June 26, off from about $77/bbl one week earlier. Prior to the Iran conflict on Feb 27, WTI traded at about $67/bbl. Brent crude traded about 2-3 percent lower on June 26, posting at $72-$73.70/bbl.
HRC futures pricing over the next six months on the New York Mercantile Exchange peaked at $1,195/nt ($1,317/mt), or $59.75/cwt., on June 26, off $3.00/nt on the day, and lower by 1.2 percent from a $1,210/nt recent high posted on the exchange on June 18.
