As 2019 draws to a close, Fastmarkets examines the underlying factors driving the spread between US hot-rolled coil and steel reinforcing bar prices throughout the year.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US averaged $33.12 per hundredweight at the midpoint in January-November, while the steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US averaged $29.77 per cwt, creating a spread of $3.35 per cwt during that period."[HRC is] more volatile than rebar," a mill source said. "We haven't seen rebar prices climb to $900 [per ton] in...