Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have topped $24.50 per hundredweight ($490 per short ton) for the first time in nine weeks on longer mill lead times and limited spot availability at some producers.
Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.58 per cwt ($491.60 per ton) on Tuesday August 25, up by 1.7% from $24.16 per cwt on Monday August 24 and up by 2.3% from $24.03 per cwt a week earlier on August 18. This marks the index's highest since June 23, when the price also stood at $24.58 per cwt.Price inputs were received in a range of $23-26 per cwt - a narrow spread of $3 per cwt compared with past...