US flat steel prices rose this week as service centers and other flat steel distributors are reported to be selling out of stocks of steel purchased at pre-tariff price levels, prompting sellers to reference higher priced post-tariff stock in new flat steel orders, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
The rising flat steel prices are balanced out by reports from US scrap market insiders indicating that monthly scrap price expectations for May continued down this week as domestic scrap supplies remain high and scrap exports are expected to remain minimal in the near term, they said.
Following last week’s substantial decline of $50/nt, mostly driven by low-priced pre-tariff stock sales, the SteelOrbis weekly hot-rolled coil price increased $25/nt to $875/nt ($965/mt) on average, or $43.75/cwt, up from $850/nt ($937/mt), or $42.50/cwt., one week earlier. Reported HRC prices ranged from $850-900/nt, insiders said. During the past two weeks, HRC coil spot pricing has fallen $75/nt ($83/mt), or $3.75/cwt., from a recent spot price high of $950/nt ($1,047/mt), SteelOrbis data shows.
“Steel inventories are high, however we’re seeing a wide range of HRC pricing as service centers sell out of inventory purchased at pre-tariff price levels,” said one flat steel insider. “There’s some cheap steel out there to be sure, but there’s increasingly higher priced material being made available and service centers are not buying new steel at this time.”
“You can get HRC out there right now below $900/nt without too much trouble,” said another flat steel market insider. “Distributors are looking to unload inventory, since stocks are high and new buyers are few.” He continued, “The outlier right now is low-priced supply from Big River II, where flat steel can be had below $900/nt however, there’s massive restrictions.”
Insiders said pressure on flat steel pricing will continue near term as the ongoing market expectation for May scrap continues to dip. May shredded scrap is reported to be about $40/gt ($41/mt) less than its April counterpart, as scrap insiders said inventory at local yards remains high owing to continued limited domestic and export demand for US scrap.
On the mill side, Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) for flat-rolled coils was steady for a third week at $930/nt ($1,025/mt) FOB mill, or $46.50/nt. Cleveland-Cliffs’ May HR offer is steady at $975/nt ($1,075/mt) FOB mill, while the CRU HRC average declined $23/ton on the week to $923/nt ($1,017/mt), or $46.15/cwt.
In the cold rolled markets, prices were reported slightly less on the week at $1,120-$1,140/nt ($1,235-1,257/mt), or on average $1,130/nt ($1,246/mt), or $56.50/cwt, off from $1,140-1,155/nt ($1,257-1,273/mt), one week earlier. Given this week’s higher HRC pricing and lower CRC values, the current key trading spread between HRC and CRC fell by $43/nt to $255/nt ($281/mt), or $12.75/cwt.
Coated steel insiders said spot HDG base product is assessed flat for a second week at $1,115-1,120/nt ($1,229-1,235/mt), or $55.75-56.00/cwt., following a $32.50/nt decline two weeks ago from $1,150/nt ($1,268/mt), or $57.50/cwt., on a customer delivered basis.
Even as hot rolled product prices rose a bit, weekly steel pipe and plate pricing remained stable at previous-weekly levels, as new demand remains minimal, pipe and plate insiders told SteelOrbis.
According to data from Baker Hughes, for the week ending on April 25, 2025, the number of rigs drilling for gas increased by one to 99 and the number of rigs drilling for oil increased by one to 488. The overall US rig count is down by 26 rigs in a year-on-year comparison.
Meanwhile, the Canadian rig count decreased by six to 128 rigs. The Canadian rig count was up by 10 compared to the same reporting period in the previous year.