Weekly US flat steel prices were mixed this week, though pricing still remain above recent two-year highs over $1,000/nt ($1,102/mt) or $50.00/cwt., for now a second week, SteelOrbis data shows.
Market insiders said recent sideways settles for March ferrous scrap could signal recent price gains seen in domestic flat steel markets might have peaked, though an all-out slump remains highly unlikely, they said.
Insiders told SteelOrbis most fundamentals remain supportive for flat steel prices, especially since the Feb. 28 start of the US-Israel-Iran war. They said rising freight and insurance costs -as the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s western flank remains threatened- could further degrade flat steel imports, putting an even higher demand on domestic steel producers, many of which already are stretched thin as flat steel imports remain constrained as a result of ongoing 50 percent Section 232 steel tariffs.
“It’s too early to tell what, if any, this current unrest will have (on steel prices), but I thought this was an interesting view when another major global conflict (Ukraine Invasion) erupted in 2022. It definitely caused a quick hitting spike,” said one flat steel insider. “Though, on the backdrop of the crazy … affair, this is not necessarily apples to apples as every situation can of course be different.”
As of Feb. 28, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), reported that US steel plants were operating at 78.3 percent of rated capacity, up 6.2 percent from one year earlier when production totaled 1,705,000 net tons (nt). Adjusted year-to-date production stood at 15,048,000 nt, AISI said, at a capacity utilization rate of 77.2 percent, up 5 percent from a year earlier. And while plant output was up, AISI reported steel imports down 12.6 percent for all of 2025.
“Its been pretty flat this week with single digit movements across the board,” the flat steel insider added.
Weekly SteelOrbis market surveys found HRC spot prices finished the week flat at $1,001/nt ($1,103/mt), or 50.05/cwt., though still up from $990/nt, ($1,091/mt), or $49.50/cwt., two weeks earlier. Since early September 2025, HRC prices have increased more than 25 percent, when spot trade was noted around $800/nt ($882/mt), or $40/cwt. On a yearly basis, SteelOrbis data shows HRC spot prices have risen 43 percent from on average $700/nt ($772/mt), or $35.00/cwt.
In the cold-rolled markets, spot CRC traded on average $5/nt less at an average of $1,136/nt ($1,252/mt), or $56.80/cwt., while spot HDG pricing continued to post gains, rising $10/nt to finish at $1,115/nt ($1,229/mt), or $55.80/cwt.
Based on a flat HRC spot price assessment and a $5/nt dip in CRC pricing, the weekly spread between the two key steel grades fell to $134/nt, or 6.70/cwt.
On the domestic mill pricing side, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor raised its Consumer Spot Price (CSP) for flat-rolled coils for a seventh time in ten weeks by another $15/nt to $1,005/nt ($1,108/mt), or 50.25/cwt., up from $990/nt ($1,091/mt), or 49.50/cwt., seven days earlier. Since the end of October, when CSP prices started their recent advance following an eight-week period of stability at $875/nt, the Nucor CSP has increased more than 13 percent. Nucor‘s California Steel Industries (CSI) price rose an equivalent $15/nt on the week to $1,055/nt ($1,163/mt) or $52.75/cwt.
On steel the raw materials side, March US Ohio Valley prime bushing scrap settled sideways following its $30/gt higher February settlement at $445-452/gt ($452-462/mt), while March shredded material finished at $445-450/gt ($452-456/mt). In the cut grades, a sideways P&S scrap settled at $421-431/gt ($427-437/mt) , while March HMS, which also rose $20/gt in February settled at $385-405/gt ($390-410/mt), scrap insiders told SteelOrbis.