Steel Products
Latest Domestic Steel Mill Price Increase
Written by John Packard
July 11, 2009
The most recent price increase announcement out of the domestic steel mills was made late last week by AK Steel. A copy of the announcement is below. Steel Market Update finds it interesting and advises our members to be careful since AK Steel has continued to be “reasonable” regarding price negotiations for orders being placed in August.
The most recent price increase announcement out of the domestic steel mills was made late last week by AK Steel. A copy of the announcement is below. Steel Market Update finds it interesting and advises our members to be careful since AK Steel has continued to be “reasonable” regarding price negotiations for orders being placed in August. The exact level of prices for AK Steel is expected to increase in September but it is not yet known if the full impact of this increase will be collected or if it is being used as a “bargaining chip.” AK Steel Announces Price Increase For Carbon Steel Products Having reported our findings about AK Steel above – I find it slightly ironic the mill happened to select today to release their price increase announcement:
West Chester, OH, July 09, 2009—AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it will increase spot market prices for its carbon steel products, effective with all new orders for August and September shipments. Base prices for hot rolled products will increase by $40 per ton. Base prices for cold rolled and coated products will increase by $50 per ton.
This is the third price increase by AK Steel since they began the ball rolling on June 1, 2009 when they announced a very innocent $20 per ton price increase on all flat rolled steel products effective July 1, 2009. The second increase announcement was made on June 18th and the mill had some catching up to do as the rest of the domestic industry seized on the AK primary move and went one step further with their price increase announcements. This second AK increase was for $60 per ton on hot rolled and $70 per ton on cold rolled and galvanized. The mill also increased their coating extras which SMU speaks about in the article below. The total of the three price announcements is for $120 per ton on hot rolled ($6.00/cwt) and $140 per ton ($7.00/cwt) on base prices on cold rolled and galvanized. Galvanized also had coating extras increased which I believe average approximately around $1.00/cwt-$1.50/cwt ($20-$30 per ton).
John Packard
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