Domestic vs. World Export Hot Rolled Price Spread Widens

SteelBenchmarker released regional pricing earlier this week, putting the world export hot rolled price at $501 per net ton ($552 per metric ton). The spread between the SMU HR price and the world HR price went from $173 per ton two weeks ago to $184 as of Monday. With an estimated $70 per ton in costs deducted from this spread for freight charges and other import duties, the spread for this week is $114 per ton, up $11 from $103 two weeks ago.

The current world HR export price at $501 per ton is a decrease of $1 over two weeks ago and also $1 lower than the $502 recorded during the same time last year. While world hot rolled export prices may be similar to last year the domestic (USA) hot rolled average is not even close to being the same. The SMU HR price is currently at $685 per ton, an increase of $10 per ton compared to two weeks ago, and an increase of $115 compared to the same time last year.