Steel Mills
Nucor Raises Sheet Prices by $40 Per Ton
Written by Tim Triplett
October 11, 2018
On Wednesday of this week, Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group announced a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price hike on flat rolled steel products produced by the mill. The price hike affects only spot tons and not contract orders, which tend to be tied to a flat rolled steel price index.
In an Oct. 10 letter to customers, Nucor said that base prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products would all increase by $40 per ton, effective immediately.
The steel mills have been largely silent on price changes for the past few months. Even though the last price increase announcement publically made was in late January, the domestic mills continued to push prices past the $705 per ton SMU’s index showed when Nucor last announced an increase (Jan 26, 2018).
Over the past couple of months, flat rolled steel prices have been on a downward slide since peaking around $915 per ton in late July. The current HR price is $835 per ton, according to Steel Market Update data.
Other mills may choose to sit and wait to see how the market reacts to the announcement. However, there are some mills that have begun to raise spot offers, reflecting a change in the pricing stance of that mill – even if they have not yet made an announcement.
Steel Market Update has moved its Price Momentum Indicator from Lower to Neutral, which is our policy when a price announcement has been made. We will continue to watch the markets carefully to see if prices begin to move higher (or not) and we will adjust our indicator once we have a better feel for the trend.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Mills
U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.
August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.
Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.