The US hot-rolled steel market remained stable. Although some blast furnace mills continued to call for price increases due to US new tariffs, downstream purchases tended to wait and see due to weak demand and sufficient inventory.

This week, Nucor raised its hot-rolled spot price by 1.6%. The transaction prices of steel mills in the Midwest did not change much, and the delivery period would be between the end of April and the beginning of May.

Steel mills expected that the US’ 25% steel tariffs on Canada and Mexico that would be imposed on April 2 would make import costs higher, which might further drive up domestic prices in the US. However, downstream buyers thought that the market had limited demand and enough stocks and expected the upward price trend to continue until early April, depending on changes in tariffs.