HRB Prices Diverge

Steel

The US domestic price for hot rolled band (HRB) continues to decline, down $166/t over the three weeks to 16 February to $1,487/t however, it remains near $260/t above the year-ago level, according to Word Steel Dynamics SteelBenchmarker. In contrast, both China and Western Europe experienced increases in domestic HRB prices, up $32/t and $70/t over the past three weeks to $678/t and $1,110, respectively. The US HRB price is now at its narrowest premium (+$377/t) to the Western European price since May 2021.