Final Thoughts

Cliffs Raises Sheet Prices Another $50/ton, Targets $850/ton HRC

Written by Michael Cowden

February 2, 2023

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. aims to increase spot prices for steel sheet by at least another $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt).

The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the move was effective immediately and applied equally to hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated products.

Cliffs logo2.2The company said it also set a minimum base price of $850 per ton for hot-rolled coil, according to a press release dated Thursday, Feb. 2.

The move comes little more than two weeks after Cliffs announced a prior round of $50/ton sheet price hikes and a target base of $800 per ton for HRC.

Cliffs has now announced four price increases totaling $210 per ton since late November.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $780 per ton, up about 12% ($85 per ton) from early January, and up nearly 27% ($165) per ton before Thanksgiving, according to our interactive pricing tool.

Recall that hot-rolled coil prices hit a 2022 low of $615 per ton shortly before the holiday. They have been rising steadily since Cliffs announced an initial round of price hikes the week after Thanksgiving.

By Michael Cowden, michael@steelmarketupdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He has since 2014 specialized in flat-rolled steel but has previously reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago - where he was involved in launching AMM's daily hot-rolled coil index, 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.

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