NEW YORK — U.S. steel prices have surged to their highest level in four years, rising more than 50% over the past year since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs.
Hot-rolled coil, the benchmark for U.S. steel prices, reached $1,255 per short ton (about 907 kilograms), Bloomberg reported on the 16th. That is the highest level since May 2022 and 52% above the price a year earlier.
The Trump administration imposed 25% sectoral tariffs on imported steel, aluminum and copper on March 12 last year. It raised the tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% in June and applied the same rate to copper from July of that year. U.S. imports of finished steel totaled about 13 million tons in the first nine months of this year, down 14% from the same period a year earlier, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Imported finished steel accounted for 16% of the total U.S. market, down from 19% in the January-September period last year.
Supply constraints are expected to tighten further as U.S. steel mills begin scheduled maintenance toward the end of the year. That points to mounting cost pressure for American manufacturers, builders and data center developers that use steel as a raw material. Nucor, the largest U.S. steelmaker, has seen its share price climb more than 50% this year on the back of higher prices. Bloomberg noted that U.S. hot-rolled coil costs about 1.5 times European prices and roughly three times Chinese prices, placing it among the most expensive in the world.