Steel Hits Its Highest Price in a Year: $1,276 a Ton
Hot-rolled coil steel futures closed as high as $1,276 a ton this week, the highest close in 52 weeks. Hot-rolled coil steel closed the week at $1,276 a ton. Prices are for the trading week of October 5 to 9.
This week's metal prices
| This week | Week ago | Year ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot-rolled coil steel ($/short ton) | $1,276 | $1,275 | $814 |
| Aluminum ($/metric ton) | $3,180 | $3,192 | $2,604 |
| Aluminum ($/lb) | $1.44 | $1.45 | $1.18 |
What the numbers measure
Hot-rolled coil is steel slab rolled thin while it is still red hot and wound into a coil. It is the plainest finished steel a mill sells and the starting point for sheet, strip, pipe and tube, trailer frames, grain bins and farm machinery. Because so much else is priced as a premium over it, hot-rolled coil is the benchmark the steel business watches.
A futures price is the price buyers and sellers agree on today for steel or aluminum delivered in a coming month, traded on an exchange. The figures here are the nearest month's daily closing price: CME's Midwest hot-rolled coil contract, in dollars per short ton (2,000 pounds), and COMEX aluminum, in dollars per metric ton (2,204.6 pounds). A shop buying bar, sheet or plate from a service center pays more than this, but the service center's own cost moves with it. Each month the nearest contract expires and the next one takes its place, so part of a week's move can be that switch.
Against the past 52 weeks
Hot-rolled coil steel has closed between $812 a ton (October 20, 2025) and $1,276 a ton (October 9, 2026) over the past 52 weeks. This week's close of $1,276 a ton is at its 52-week high.
Aluminum has closed between $2,636 a metric ton (October 14, 2025) and $4,195 a metric ton (May 27, 2026) over the past 52 weeks. This week's close of $3,180 a metric ton is $1,015 below that high and $544 above that low.
Also this week
- Hot-rolled coil at $1,276 a ton is 57% higher than a year ago ($814 a ton).
This month's producer prices
August 2026 figures, the latest the Labor Department has published. The index comes out once a month, in the middle of the following month.
| Producer price index (1982 = 100) | Latest | Month before | Year ago | In the record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron and steel (August 2026) | 580.5 | 589.6 | 530.3 | -- |
| Iron and steel scrap (August 2026) | 534.3 | 543.1 | 491.7 | -- |
| Construction sand, gravel and crushed stone (August 2026) | 562.2 | 561.9 | 529.3 | record high (since 1947) |
| All commodities (August 2026) | 287.9 | 285.2 | 262.1 | -- |
The Producer Price Index is the Labor Department's monthly measure of what U.S. producers receive for what they sell, before it reaches a store or a job site. Each index is set to 100 in 1982, so a reading of 580 means prices about 5.8 times their 1982 level.
Who this helps and who it squeezes
| What a move in steel means | |
|---|---|
| Fabricators, machine shops and repair shops | Squeezes when steel rises. Plate, sheet, tube and bar are all priced off it. |
| Steel mills | Helps when steel rises. It is what they sell. |
| Anyone with scrap to sell | Tends to help when steel rises. Mills that melt scrap in electric furnaces bid more for it. |
| Farmers and contractors buying equipment, bins and buildings | Squeezes when steel rises, usually later. Steel is built into the price of what they buy. |
Why an Iowan should care
Iowa builds farm equipment, grain bins, trailers and wind-tower parts, and every farm and trucking operation keeps a shop. Fall is harvest and repair season: worn augers, grain-cart floors and trailer decks get patched with plate and sheet, and the bins going up next spring are priced now.
Sources: CME Group Midwest hot-rolled coil steel futures and COMEX aluminum futures, nearest-month daily closing prices, week of October 5 to 9, 2026; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Indexes for iron and steel, iron and steel scrap, construction sand, gravel and crushed stone, and all commodities (via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Changes, ranges and the $/lb conversion are arithmetic on those figures.
Compiled automatically by the Drive365 Data Desk from published exchange and government data. Generated 2026-10-13 14:10 UTC. This page reports published figures and the arithmetic on them. It does not forecast prices or offer trading or business advice.
Brought to you byJemsCutSendLaser cutting and fabrication, on demand.Visit jemscutsend.comSponsorship supports the Data Desk. Sponsors have no input into what it reports; every figure above comes straight from the published source.
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