Steel Products
AK, NLMK Join Price Hike Parade
Written by Tim Triplett
January 3, 2018
AK Steel and NLMK USA raised spot market base prices on all carbon flat-rolled steel prices by $40 per ton today, matching similar $40 hikes on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products yesterday by Nucor and U.S. Steel. All four companies said the increase is effective immediately on new orders and will not affect pricing extras.
NLMK informed customers that the increase is “due to increasing strength in market demand, extended lead times, and rising raw material costs.”
First to raise prices this week were West Coast mills California Steel Industries and USS-POSCO, which both announced flat roll increases of $30 per ton on Tuesday.
{loadposition reserved_message}
Domestic flat rolled steel producers have been striving to collect higher prices for the past quarter. U.S. Steel’s last price hike announcement on flat roll was $30 on Nov. 16. Nucor announced increases of $40 per ton on Oct. 18, $30 per ton on Nov. 15 and $30 per ton on Dec. 8. NLMK raised prices by $40 on Oct. 18, $30 on Nov. 15 and $30 on Dec. 18. AK Steel’s last increase was $30 per ton on Nov. 16.
The series of price hikes come as no surprise to most in the marketplace, which expected the mills to position themselves for what is expected to be a strong first quarter for the U.S. economy.

Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest 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 […]