Market
December 13, 2023
HRC vs. busheling spread widens in December
Written by Ethan Bernard
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices widened slightly this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.
SMU’s average HRC price increased this week, while the average price for busheling scrap jumped in December month over month.
Our average HRC price was $1,040 per ton as of Dec. 12, up $20 per ton from the prior week.
Busheling tags climbed $85 per gross ton from November to an average of $500 this month. Figure 1 shows price histories for each product.
After converting scrap prices to dollars per net ton for an equal comparison, the differential between HRC and busheling scrap prices is $594 per net ton as of Dec. 12, rising $25 from a month earlier (Figure 2). Widening for the third consecutive month, we’ll see if this becomes a trend going into the new year.
By the way, did you know SMU’s Interactive Pricing Tool has the capability to show steel and scrap prices in dollars per net ton, dollars per metric ton, and dollars per gross ton?
Figure 3 explores this relationship in a different way: We have graphed HRC’s premium over busheling scrap as a percentage. HRC prices now carry a 108% premium over prime scrap, down from 127% a month ago.
The post HRC vs. busheling spread widens in December appeared first on Steel Market Update.
