Steel Products Prices North America

U.S., Canadian Tube Mills Join ~$50/Ton HSS Price Hike Effort

February 22, 2021

Tube mills in the U.S. and Canada have followed Nucor in raising prices on hollow structural sections (HSS) and other non-energy tubulars by about $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt).

The increases are necessary in response to higher coil costs and strong customer demand, according to some producers.

steel pipe Atlas Tube is raising prices on all new orders of hollow structural sections (HSS), mechanical and piling products by at least $50 per ton in a price hike that was effective immediately, according to a letter to customers Feb. 22.

“All orders currently on our books will be price protected for shipment through March 19, 2021. The increase will apply to all unconfirmed quotes and contracts,” the company said. Chicago-based Atlas Tube is a division of Zekelman Industries.

North of the border, Concord, Ontario-based Welded Tube of Canada is increasing prices for HSS and mechanical tube products by a minimum of $60 CAD per ton ($48 per ton USD). And Lasalle, Quebec-based Nova Steel is doing the same for HSS. Both companies, like Atlas, announced the increases on Feb. 22.

Welded Tube of Canada will protect orders already on its book at pre-increase prices through March 12 and Nova Steel through March 19, according to letters to customers.

Those price hikes came after EXLTUBE increased prices on all A500 and A513 products by $50 per ton on Feb. 19. “This increase is due to escalating substrate costs and exceptional demand,” EXLTUBE said in its letter.

Atlas, the Canadian tubers and EXLTUBE appear to be following a leading move initiated by Nucor’s tubular products division.

Some market participants questioned whether demand was as strong as producers had indicated it was.

“I think the tubers are just trying to keep pace with the flat-rolled mill increases,” one Great Lakes service center source said.

The tubing price increases follow a sharp rise in costs for hot-rolled coil, the substrate necessary to make products such as HSS and welded mechanical tubing.

Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,210 per ton this week, up 12% from $1,080 per ton a month earlier and up 27% from $950 per ton in mid-December 2020.

Higher hot-rolled coil prices resulted from a round of price increases on the sheet side, most of them quietly rolled out on a customer-by-customer basis by domestic mills.

And several market participants said they expect to see significant price increases for plate this week or next when mills open April order books as they seek to move plate prices closer to parity with those for coil.

SMU’s average plate price was at $1,070 per ton when this article was filed, or $130 per ton below coil. Plate typically carries a premium to coil.

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.