Plate
November 29, 2021
Written by Michael Cowden
Nucor has increased plate prices by $40 per ton ($2 per cwt) with the opening of its January order book.
The price hike – announced on Monday, Nov. 29 and effective immediately – is equal across all plate products.
The majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey reported that mills continue to hold a firm grip on prices. The share of buyers reporting that mills were negotiable fell this week to the lowest rate seen in over five years. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers asking if mills are negotiable on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, just 3% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down 11 percentage points from our mid-October survey.
The results of the latest Steel Market Update (SMU) flat-rolled market survey are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in, look under the Data tab for Market Reports, and there you will find the Flat-Rolled Survey Results section. Previous survey results are also available on that page. If you need help accessing these results, or if your company would like to have your voice heard in our future surveys, contact smu@crugroup.com.
Lead times for sheet and plate products continued to lengthen amid historically tight supply, according to the latest SMU steel market survey data. Average lead times now extend into January 2027, with some mills quoting availability well into February. Lead times for all sheet products except Galvalume stand at their highest point since the post-Covid demand snapback in 2021. Plate lead times exceed their 2021 peak, setting a record in our data series, which dates to 2018. (We started collecting sheet lead times earlier, in 2011.)
SSAB Americas delivered slightly lower shipments and operating results in the third quarter of 2026 due to a planned maintenance outage. Still, the company saw strong demand in key US end markets, specifically in heavy industrial segments. The Swedish steelmaker’s Americas division shipped 446,000 metric tons (mt) in Q3’26, down from 473,000 mt in the previous quarter but up from 440,000 mt in Q3’25, according to its 2026 third quarter report. SSAB President and CEO Johnny Sjöström described stable shipments vs. year-ago results. On an earnings conference call, he highlighted strong underlying demand and higher prices, “up higher than we guided for, by roughly 8%.” Results came in despite maintenance-related volume fluctuations related to a planned outage at the company’s mill in Montpelier, Iowa, during the quarter.
JSW Steel’s US operations reported higher EBITDA in the second quarter of FY 2026-27, as improved sales realizations offset lower production at its Ohio and Texas facilities. The company's electric-arc furnace (EAF) facility in Ohio produced 224,933 short tons (st) of slabs in the quarter, at 62% capacity utilization. Slab production fell quarter over quarter, primarily because of a scheduled shutdown for electrical upgrades and maintenance, the company said. Sales were 112,663 st of slabs and 91,198 st of hot-rolled (HR) coil. EBITDA rose 22% q/q to $5.85 million, driven by better sales realizations, which partly offset the effect of lower volumes.