Nucor, Evraz Increase Plate Prices $120-160/ton

The increase – announced on Tuesday, July 20 – marks at least the third consecutive month that the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker has announced triple-digit price increases.

Evraz North America (NA) followed Nucor’s move a day later, and other plate mills probably will too, market participants said.

Nucor’s new ex-works base price for cut-to-length A36 plate is $1,560 per ton ($78/cwt), up from $1,440 per ton last month, according to letters to customers.

The steelmaker’s new base price for quenched-and-tempered Grade A514 material with a Grade B base is now $1,920 per ton, up from $1,760 per ton in June.

And Nucor’s new price for normalized A516-70 product is $1,760 per ton, up from $1,640 per ton a month prior.

The new, higher prices are effective immediately and will be collected along with published freight and extras, Nucor said.

“We reserve the right to review and requote any offers that are not confirmed with either a Nucor sales acknowledgement or written acceptance by both parties,” the company said.

Evraz NA made a similar announcement. The company’s $120-per-ton increase applies to all carbon and high-strength low-alloy plate as well as to hot-rolled coil. Its $150-per-ton price increase is for normalized and quenched-and-tempered products.

“We reserve the right to re-quote any offers that have not been confirmed,” the company said in a letter to customers dated Wednesday, July 21.

Evraz NA, based in Chicago, is a subsidiary of Russian steelmaker Evraz. It operates a plate mill in Portland, Ore., the only one of its kind in the western United States and Canada.

SMU’s benchmark plate price stands at $1,575 per ton ($78.75/cwt). That’s up 80% from $875 per ton at the beginning of the year and more than double $605 per ton a year ago, according to SMU’s interactive price tool

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com