Steel Products
July 8, 2021
When Will Hot Rolled Prices Peak in USA?
Written by Tim Triplett
You may be tired of reading about it, but there is no ignoring the question: When will hot rolled coil prices finally peak? So many livelihoods depend on the answer. Unfortunately, Steel Market Update steel survey data clearly shows that no one knows.
Roughly one-third of those polled this week believe hot rolled steel prices will have peaked by the time they hit $1,800 per ton—just $30 from the current SMU price of $1,770—which could happen as soon as this month. About half see the peak somewhere between $1,850-$1,950 per ton. The remaining 16% envision hot rolled prices reaching an astounding $2,000 per ton or more before finally beginning to correct to more reasonable levels sometime late this year or perhaps not until 2022.
