Steel Mills

Nucor Increases HSS Prices $50/Ton

Written by Michael Cowden

February 19, 2021

Nucor’s tubular products group has increased prices for hollow structural sections (HSS), pipe, mechanical and piling products by $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt).

The move is effective immediately and is necessary because of “rising raw material costs, strong demand, and volatile transportation costs,” Nucor said in a Feb. 19 letter to customers.

NucorOrders booked prior to the announcement will be protected at the pre-increase price through March 19 shipments, the steelmaker said.

“New orders, quotes and contracts not previously confirmed by Nucor will be subject to this increase,” the company said.

The move comes after several domestic flat-rolled mills increased prices earlier this week. But those increases were largely done in the absence of official price announcement letters on company letterhead.

Steel Market Update does not price tubular products such as HSS. But the price for hot-rolled coil, the substrate used to make welded pipe and tube, is at an all-time high.

SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,200 per ton ($60/cwt), up 11.1% from $1,080 per ton in mid-January and up 172.2% from a 2020 low, recorded in August, of $440 per ton.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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