Nucor Follows Cliffs, Increases Sheet Prices $50/ton

Nucor has joined Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in increasing base prices for steel sheet by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt).

The move is effective with all new orders, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Friday, Feb. 25.

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

The price hike from North America’s largest steelmaker comes after Cleveland-based Cliffs said on Monday that it was indefinitely idling a blast furnace and increasing prices by $50 per ton effective with April orders.

SMU on Tuesday changed is Price Momentum Indicator to neutral to see what market reaction to any attempted price increases would be.

Hot-rolled coil prices currently stand at $1,020 per ton ($51 per cwt), down 36% from the $1,600 per ton at the beginning of the year and down 48% from a 2020 high of $1,955 per ton recorded in September, according to SMU’s interactive pricing tool.

Nucor last announced a price hike – also of $50 per ton – on Sept. 30, 2020, according to SMU’s mill price increase calendar. HRC prices at the time were at $605 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.