Steel Products
U.S. Steel Announces New $50 per Ton Price Increase
Written by John Packard
February 27, 2013
Steel Market Update (SMU) started receiving calls by late this afternoon advising us to prepare for a new round of price increase announcements. This afternoon, United States Steel Corporation (USS) put out a letter under the signature of RY Kopf, General Manager North American Flat-Rolled Marketing, advising the various General Managers of Sales of an immediate change to USS spot pricing.
According to the memo seen by SMU, “Effective immediately, base pricing for all new Flat-rolled products spot orders is increased by a minimum of $50 USD per net ton. This increase is applicable to all open quotes and/or negotiations where an agreement is yet to have been concluded, and pricing extras, as published on our corporate web site, will continue to be fully applied.” From a midwest service center.
As many in the industry know, it is unusual for U.S. Steel to publically publish their price announcements preferring to communicate their intentions with their customers verbally.
This is the second price increase by U.S. Steel this year. Shortly after the AK Steel announced their price increase in late January, USS followed with a $50 price increase. At that time the target for hot rolled was reported to be $650 per ton. There are no specific base prices referenced with this particular announcement. We will continue to watch for signs of specific pricing direction in the days ahead as well as reaction from other domestic mills.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products
Active rig counts slipped in US, Canada
Drilling activity slowed in the US and Canada last week, according to the latest oil and gas rig count data released by Baker Hughes.
OCTG producers in Canada take aim at Mexico, US, others
Evraz NA and Welded Tube of Canada have lodged an unfair trade complaint against imports of OCTG, including those from USMCA trading partners Mexico and the US.
Final Thoughts
The difference: The spat with Turkey was a big deal for steel. This time, the 50% reciprocal tariff for Brazil – if it goes into effect as threatened on Aug.1 – hits everything from coffee and to pig iron. It seems almost custom-built to inflict as much pain as possible on Brazil.
CRU: US rebar and wire rod prices rise alongside S232 increase
CRU Senior Steel Analyst Alexandra Anderson discusses current market and pricing dynamics for long steel products in the US.
CRU: Excessive global supply could hit rebar mill investments in US
Following the onset of the war in Ukraine in March 2022, concerns about import availability and expectations of rising demand from President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill pushed US rebar prices to record highs. In response, a flurry of new mills and capacity expansions were announced to meet the rise in demand from growth in the construction […]