Nucor cuts prices for hot rolled coils by $20/t

Supply of products fell to the lowest level since early March

American steel company Nucor has announced a reduction in the weekly spot price (CSP) for hot rolled coil (HRC). Offers for the week of May 5-11, 2025, dropped by 2.2% or $20/t to $910 per short tonne for all production facilities except California Steel Industries (CSI), where the price is $970/t.

The company resorted to lowering its offers after refraining from adjustments for two weeks. Currently, the price is the lowest since March 10 this year, while it is the first double-digit decline since October 14, 2024.

Earlier (the week of April 14-20), Nucor cut prices for the first time since the beginning of the year – from $935/mt to $930/mt. Thus, the highest price since the beginning of the year was reached on March 24 – $935/mt ($995/mt for CSI) – and lasted until April 13. The overall increase in CSP at Nucor’s HRC since the beginning of the year is estimated at $160 per short ton.

The lead time for order fulfillment is estimated at 3-5 weeks.

As of May 2, prices for hot rolled coil in North America averaged $952/t ex-works, which is in line with the level of supply in mid-April. The current decline in prices by the key US HRC producer is in line with the overall market trend.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Cleveland-Cliffs recently announced the opening of its May order book for hot-rolled steel, setting its price at $975/t. At the end of February, the company opened the April order book for HRC at $900/t. Thus, the supply for May increased by $75/t.