Cleveland-Cliffs Announces $60/Ton Sheet Price Hike

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. aims to increase spot prices for carbon steel sheet by at least $60 per ton ($3 per cwt).

The move is effective immediately and applies equally to all new orders of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated products in North America, the company said in a press release on Monday, Nov. 28.

The Cleveland-based company last announced a price increase on Aug. 24, when it boosted tags by at least $75 per ton. The late August increase came after domestic competitor Nucor Corp. announced a price hike of $50 per ton earlier in the month.

At that time, the move provided little lift to the declining market. Prices bumped up about $15 per ton in response to the repeated notices and fluctuated between $770-780 per ton for roughly five weeks. The move temporarily stalled price declines. But prices later resumed their slide on uneven demand.

The question now is this: Will the price increase stick this time around and kickstart buying, or will it be a dead-cat bounce like it was last time?

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $615 per ton, down $15 per ton from the prior week and marking the lowest prices for HRC since late September 2020.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.