US hot-rolled coil prices broke the 2008 record in the second week of January 2021. Steel Market Update's check of the market on 11-12 January put benchmark hot-rolled coil at $1,080 per short ton, above the previous high of $1,070 recorded in July 2008. Fastmarkets' daily index reached $58 per hundredweight ($1,160 per short ton) on 14 January, its highest since the index began in 1960. Prices had risen two and a half times in five months, from about $440 per ton in August, as demand from carmakers, construction and appliance makers outpaced mill supply and spot tonnes grew scarce. Lead times stretched into late March and April. Mills raised prices repeatedly in early January while service centres competed for limited spot material. Analysts noted the 2008 peak equalled about $1,286 in 2021 dollars, so in real terms prices still had room, but buyers were already asking how long the rally could last. Most respondents in an early-January survey expected a correction by spring, though nearly a third thought prices would keep climbing into April or beyond.
Source: The Fabricator (Steel Market Update) — https://www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/blog/metalsmaterials/steel-prices-reach-levels-not-seen-since-2008
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