Nucor Aims to Increase Sheet Prices by $50 per Ton

Nucor plans to increase base prices for all new orders of steel sheet by $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt).

The price hike is effective immediately, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday, Jan. 9.

arrow up “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.

Nucor’s move comes after Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced a price hike of the same amount in mid-December.

NLMK USA and ArcelorMittal followed that increase. Other major steelmakers, notably Nucor and US Steel, did not. (Note: Steel Dynamics Inc. does not typically announce price increases.)

But some market participants had expected another round of mill price-increase announcements linked to higher January scrap costs.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price currently stands at $695 per ton ($34.75 per cwt), up 13% ($80 per ton) from a 2022 low $615 per ton recorded before Thanksgiving.

Mills began announcing sheet price increases the following week, and prices have been on an upswing since then.

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.