HRC Steel
CME / LME
The two ferrous futures that actually trade: US hot-rolled coil and, oddly, the scrap shipped to Turkey.
Top Producers
approximate share of world crude steel production (worldsteel, indicative)
Main Uses
indicative split of flat-steel demand by end use
HRC contract
CME US Midwest, 20 short tons, cash-settled
as of 2026
Scrap contract
LME CFR Turkey, the most liquid ferrous future
as of 2026
HRC price
roughly $700 to $975 per short ton
2024-2025
Scrap price
roughly $330 to $390 per tonne
2024-2025
Steel itself, as covered in the Steel sheet, is too varied to trade as one contract; instead the futures market settled on two specific, standardized ferrous products. The first is hot-rolled coil (HRC), flat-rolled steel sheet, the form that becomes car bodies, appliances, and pipe. The CME US Midwest HRC contract is 20 short tons, quoted in dollars per short ton and cash-settled against the CRU US Midwest HRC index; it is the main US steel hedging tool for mills like Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs and the buyers who consume their sheet.
The second is steel scrap, which is not a finished product at all but the raw input for electric-arc-furnace steelmaking, the route that now makes most US steel by melting recycled metal. The LME Steel Scrap CFR Turkey contract, 10 tonnes a lot, cash-settled against a Platts index for shredded scrap delivered to Turkey, is the most liquid ferrous futures contract in the world, because Turkey is the largest scrap importer and its import price is the global benchmark.
Both markets are dominated by policy and the cycle. US Section 232 tariffs, reinstated at 25 percent in March 2025 and raised to 50 percent that June, widen the gap between US domestic HRC and landed imports, while scrap tracks global steel demand and electricity costs. HRC traded roughly 700 to 975 dollars per short ton across 2024 and 2025; Turkish scrap roughly 330 to 390 dollars per tonne.
How It Trades
| Venue | CME (US HRC); London Metal Exchange (steel scrap CFR Turkey) |
| Benchmark contract | CME US Midwest HRC (CRU index); LME Steel Scrap CFR Turkey (Platts index) |
| Contract size | HRC: 20 short tons; scrap: 10 metric tonnes |
| Price terms | HRC in USD per short ton; scrap in USD per tonne |
| Settlement | Both cash-settled against published indices |
| Typical curve | Driven by the steel cycle, tariffs, iron-ore and scrap costs, and electricity prices |
| Liquidity | LME Turkish scrap is the most liquid ferrous future; CME HRC is the main US steel hedge |
Supply and Demand
Top producers
- China: over half of world crude steel (the backdrop to both contracts)
- United States: the HRC contract tracks Midwest mills (Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, US Steel)
- Turkey: the world's largest scrap importer, anchoring the scrap benchmark
- EU, Japan, India, South Korea: major flat-steel producers
HRC is a finished flat product; scrap is the EAF raw input. The two contracts hedge opposite ends of the chain.
Top consumers
- Automakers and appliance makers (HRC sheet)
- Construction and pipe/tube makers
- Electric-arc-furnace mills (the buyers of scrap)
Major uses
- Hot-rolled coil: autos, appliances, pipe, construction
- Steel scrap: feedstock for electric-arc-furnace steelmaking
What Moves the Price
- US Section 232 steel tariffs and trade policy
- The global steel demand cycle (China construction above all)
- Iron ore and coking coal costs (blast-furnace route)
- Scrap availability and electricity prices (electric-arc route)
- Auto and construction demand
Moments That Made the Market
2008
CME launches US HRC steel futures, the first liquid finished-steel contract.
2015
The LME launches cash-settled Steel Scrap CFR Turkey, which becomes the most liquid ferrous future.
2025
US Section 232 tariffs go to 50 percent, widening the US-import HRC gap.
What Changed Since the 2010 Handbook Era
- Steel got tradeable through two narrow contracts: HRC and Turkish scrap.
- Electric-arc steelmaking made scrap the key hedged input in the US.
- Tariff policy became a first-order driver of the US HRC price.