Mill Prices Keep Climbing, Scrap Holds Flat: Where Shredder Operators Stand Mid-June 2026

The pattern from earlier this spring is still running: finished steel keeps grinding higher while scrap sits flat. If you run a shredder, that gap is the story to watch.

Nucor’s price surge isn’t slowing

Nucor raised its hot-rolled coil spot price again in the week of June 8, pushing it to $1,115 per ton — another $10 bump and part of a streak of increases stretching back to late January. Most average-size orders early in the week were transacting around $1,125/ton, in a $1,110–$1,140 range.

It’s not just flat-rolled. Gerdau lifted beam and long-product prices by as much as $80/ton in the second week of June, and both Nucor and Steel Dynamics pushed merchant bar quality (MBQ) up $40/ton — up to $80 on larger sizes. When long products and bar move together, that’s broad pricing power, not a one-off.

Scrap stays put

The other side of the ledger barely budged. For June, prime grades like No. 1 busheling and bundles held flat, sitting near $450/gross ton in most regions — June scrap essentially matched May. The tariff-driven scrap supply glut we’ve flagged before is still capping any upside on what you sell.

So the spread between what mills charge for finished steel and what they pay for your shred keeps widening in the mills’ favor.

Consolidation rolls on

The buy-up of scrap capacity continues. Earlier this year Sims acquired Tri Coastal Trading for $66.5 million, adding roughly 350,000 tons of annual ferrous volume. For context on the base you’re competing in: the U.S. runs more than 280 auto shredders recycling over 13 million tons a year, with recycling rates averaging 80–90% over the past decade. Bigger players keep absorbing feedstock, which pressures independent yards on both buy price and sell access.

What this means for your pins

• Flat scrap + rising costs = thinner margins. When the spread tightens, every hour of unplanned downtime hurts more. A pin failure mid-run is more expensive in this market than it was even a few months ago.
• Throughput is where the money is. With sell prices capped, the lever you control is tons-per-hour and uptime — which is exactly what a properly specified, heat-treated pin protects.
• Track cost per ton shredded, not price per pin. A cheaper imported pin that forces an extra change-out can quietly eat more than the premium on a domestic pin that runs longer.

We’ll keep watching the spread. For the live feeds we follow, see the Industry News & Market Data links on The Pin Post.