US domestic flat steel markets continued to advance to levels unseen since early 2024, as bullish fundamentals continue to drive a higher flat and finished steel pricing sentiment, market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
Solid domestic flat steel demand that’s driving high mill productive capacity levels -as global steel imports remain slashed amid 50 percent steel import tariffs- has combined with more risky and expensive fixed global supply chain costs, they said, to produce the current pricing scenario for flat steel and other US finished steel grades.
Solid flat steel futures pricing in advance of $1,100/nt ($1,213/mt), or $55/cwt., well into Q3, 2026 on the New York Mercantile Exchange indicates many think the current situation could persist through the summer, they said.
On the energy side, continued uncertainty in the Middle East as the US-Iran-Israel war enters its ninth week, combined with stalled peace talks and an ongoing US blockade of the all important Strait of Hormuz, has caused global oil prices to soar to their highest levels in more than four years.
This week, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) pricing ranged between $94.59-$110.93 per barrel (/bbl), while globally, Brent crude oil traded between $101-$126/bbl, showing significant volatility.
Insiders said rising oil prices have caused most transporters of steel and steel products to attach fuel surcharges to deliveries to account for higher diesel and ship bunker fuel prices. Some SteelOrbis insiders estimated surcharges currently are adding as much as 20-30 percent to previous delivered steel prices.
“We’re seeing the spot market driving pricing higher given import inventories are down and transportation costs are way up,” said one US flat steel market watcher. “On an average truckload sized steel purchase, current fuel surcharges locally in Houston, Texas, for example, are adding $150-200 to the price of deliveries. In some limited cases, where people really need steel, we’ve seen some surcharges adding up to between $1,200-1,500 on top of an average delivery price.”
On April 30, Beaumont, Tx.-based Optimus Steel announced that due to high regional fuel prices and truck rates, they would enact a 14 percent fuel surcharge on truck deliveries, a 19 percent surcharge on barge shipments, as well as a 4 percent surcharge on rail shipments effective May 1. And while Optimus produces mostly long steel products, they also produce billet transported to US flat steel producers as a raw material to produce coils.
In the hot-rolled coil markets, weekly SteelOrbis surveys show flat steel values rose another $10/nt to on average $1,063/nt ($1,172/mt), or $53.15/cwt., on an FOB mill basis, up from last week’s $3/nt gain to $1,053/nt ($1,161/mt), or $52.65/cwt. SteelOrbis weekly data shows HRC pricing has increased 16.8 percent since the beginning of 2026.
This week, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor continued to post increases for its Consumer Spot Price (CSP) for flat-rolled coils for a 15th time in 17 weeks. The CSP rose another $10/nt on an FOB mill basis to $1,065/nt ($1,174/mt), or $53.25/cwt., up from $1,055/nt ($1,163/mt), or $52.75/cwt., one week earlier. Since the end of October, when CSP prices started a steady weekly advance following an extended period of stability at $875/nt, the Nucor CSP has increased nearly 22 percent. Nucor‘s California Steel Industries (CSI) price also continued higher this week, increasing another $10/nt on an FOB basis to $1,115/nt ($1,229/mt) or $55.75/cwt., up from $1,105/nt ($1,218/mt), or $55.25/cwt., one week prior.
In the cold rolled coil markets, spot prices saw additional $10/nt weekly price gains to on average $1,200/nt ($1,323/mt), or $60/cwt., eclipsing last week’s $5/nt price rise from $1,190/nt ($1,312/mt), or $59.50/cwt. Based on a $10/nt rise in weekly HRC prices and a $10/nt bump in weekly CRC values, the current spread between the two key steel grades remained steady on the week at $137/nt or $6.85/cwt.
In the weekly coated steel markets, spot hot-dipped galvanized finished steel pricing on a delivered basis averaged $1,195/nt ($1,317/mt), or $59.75/cwt., up $15/nt from last week’s finish at $1,180/nt ($1,300/mt), or $59/cwt., on an FOB basis. Insiders said coated steel inventories remain “lowish” amid growing seasonal demand from the US construction, infrastructure, and automotive sectors.
On the domestic supply side, with many US mills having breached the 80 percent of capacity level for the first time since August 2024, US flat steel insiders told SteelOrbis they think pricing could continue supported near term, especially since global imports continue low due to tariffs. Spring maintenance-related outages also remain in support.
Market reports made available to SteelOrbis indicate during April and May, a minimum of nine individual US mills could be shuttered for maintenance during the two-month period. US Steel’s Gary #14 blast furnace in Indiana is scheduled to be offline from May until August for a planned re-line of the blast furnace, extending its use an additional 20 years. The unit, with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year, is the largest such facility in the US, and produces pig iron used in the production of steel for the automotive, construction and appliance markets.
On the import side, most recent data from the US Census Bureau data from Washington, DC-based American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) seems to confirm recent market reports about an expectation for growing import activity into the US during the first and second quarters of 2026, as finished steel pricing continues to rise to a level where imports are more competitive.
Despite ongoing steel tariffs, AISI said that the US imported a total of 1,769,000 net tons (nt) of steel in March 2026, including 1,306,000 nt of finished steel (up 5.4 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, versus February 2026). And while up on the month, total and finished steel imports remain off about 35 percent year-to-date versus 2025 levels.
