Steel Products Prices North America

Nucor Announces $40 Increase on Flat Rolled

January 28, 2019

Following on last week’s announcement by West Coast mills, Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group today also announced a $40 per ton ($2/cwt) increase on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products, effective immediately on new and unconfirmed orders.

The price hike comes as no surprise as Nucor and other mills east of the Rockies were widely expected to raise prices soon in an effort to stop the slide steel has experienced since last summer. Nucor’s last announcement on flat rolled was a $40 increase on Oct. 10. Since then, prices have continued to decline. Steel Market Update data places the current price for hot rolled at around $685 per ton, down from a peak of over $900 in July 2018.

Nucor has routinely raised its price each January since at least 2016 as part of its marketing plan. Unlike in other years when the market was on the upswing, growth in steel demand is less certain entering 2019, casting doubt on the ability of Nucor and other mills to collect their increases.

California Steel Industries (CSI) and USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) were the first to announce flat rolled price increases of $40 per ton last Monday, Jan. 21.