Steel Products Prices North America

SSAB, Nucor Announce Changes to Plate Pricing

November 17, 2020

Steel plate is likely to get more expensive, and not just because of the usual price increases.

SSAB Americas informed customers on Monday that it has increased transaction prices by a minimum of $50 per ton effective on all new non-contract orders of As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, Normalized Plate and Quenched & Tempered Plate shipped via preferred freight mode. Published extras, regional freight premiums and non-preferred freight mode extras will be applied.

On Tuesday, Nucor’s Plate Group announced the following minimum base prices for plate:

As-rolled discrete/CTL grade A36 Base 3/8”-2”*, $36.00 cwt, freight included, *applicable to stock sizes only in widths of 72”, 84”, 96” or 120”.
Quenched & tempered Grade A514 Grade B Base 3/8 – 1-1/4”**, $46.50 cwt, freight included, **applicable to stock sizes only to include widths of 96” and lengths of 240”/288”.
Normalized Grade A516-70 Base 3/8”-2”***, $40.50 cwt, freight included, ***applicable to stock sizes only to include widths of 96”/120” and lengths of 240”/480”.

Beginning next year, Nucor will change the way it calculates freight. Nucor’s Plate Group notified customers Nov. 2 that it will begin publishing pricing as EXW mill plus freight for as-rolled and heat-treated products. Nucor will publish its initial EXW base price the week of Nov. 29 for orders acknowledged for production after Dec. 31, 2020. Nucor will publish its freight rate matrix for first-quarter 2021 in mid-December. Nucor will open its January 2021 order book the week of Nov. 29 concurrent with the initial EXW pricing letter.

The policy change at Nucor effectively shifts more of the freight cost to buyers. Other mills are expected to follow suit. “Take notice of the freight extra. That’s going to be a big deal in 2021 with these plate mills,” one steel exec told Steel Market Update.

Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week puts the average plate price at $720 per ton. The mills have raised plate prices on almost a monthly basis since August, but prices struggled to gain much traction in September and October. That appears to be changing, however, as the plate price saw a $55 jump in the past two weeks. The mid-November price is up by $130 from the low of $590 per ton in August.