Producer Price Index: Steel

In 2025, US steel prices experienced marked changes because of the implementation of new tariffs on imports, causing a 1.9% year-over-year price increase to 296.9. These tariffs aimed to foster domestic manufacturing by making foreign steel less competitively priced in the US market, resulting in a short-term surge in domestic steel prices. Meanwhile, ongoing trade negotiations, including a significant non-binding agreement with the UK that reduced tariffs from 50.0% to 25.0%, provided avenues for potential future price stabilization. This agreement signified economic relief amid fluctuating market conditions, as it somewhat alleviated the cost pressures faced by domestic industries reliant on steel imports. These tariff alterations, combined with rising input costs and broader economic factors, played a pivotal role in shaping the steel price landscape throughout 2025. Also, the anticipated increase in domestic infrastructure projects added complexity to the supply-demand dynamics that influenced the steel market during this period.

Between 2020 and 2025, the steel industry underwent substantial shifts. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a severe drop in demand as global construction, a key consumer of steel, slowed significantly. Steel demand decreased as construction sites worldwide halted or reduced operations, resulting in a short-term drop in steel prices. By 2021, however, a robust post-pandemic recovery took hold. Steel prices rebounded sharply because of a rapid increase in demand from downstream markets, reversing the trend of the previous year. The termination of Section 232 tariffs in October 2021 had a significant impact on the market, as it allowed for increased steel imports amid a global surplus in production capacity. Geopolitical tensions, most notably the 2022 Ukraine-Russia conflict, disrupted global steel supply chains, placing additional upward pressure on prices. Rising energy costs and logistical challenges exacerbated these price pressures. Even so, by 2023, there was some relief as supply chain constraints began to ease, resulting in a slight price drop. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), introduced toward the end of this period, increased demand for steel as it mandated the use of domestically sourced materials for large-scale infrastructure projects. This act drove up demand and contributed to price increases because of the infrastructural needs for roads, water systems and transportation facilities. Despite the fluctuating market conditions, the steel industry managed to navigate these challenges, achieving a CAGR of 10.0% over this period.