Market
October 13, 2023
Prime Scrap, HRC Spread Increases in October
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 this month was flat.
Our average HRC price stood at $695 per ton ($34.75 per cwt) as of Oct. 10, up $25 per ton from the previous week.
Busheling tags remained level in October vs. September at an average of $400 per gross ton. 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 $338 per net ton as of Oct. 13, up $5 from a month earlier. (Figure 2). As recently as the middle of April it stood at $667.
By the way, did you know our 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 74% premium over prime scrap, up from 73% a month ago.
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