Cliffs Joins Nucor, Sheet Up $100/ton and Seeks $1,000/ton HRC

Cleveland-Cliffs didn’t take long to join Nucor in increasing spot prices for steel sheet by at least another $100 per ton ($5 per cwt).

Cliffs logo2.2 The Cleveland-based steelmaker, like Nucor, is also targeting a base price of $1,000 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC).

Cliffs said the increase was effective immediately and applied equally to all new orders of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated products in a press release dated Tuesday, Feb. 21. It did not, however, provide target base prices for cold-rolled and coated material.

The move comes just about a week after Cliffs announced a $50-per-ton price hike and a target HRC price of $900 per ton on Feb. 13.

Like Nucor, this is Cliffs’ third price hike notice for the month, now up $200 per ton since its initial increase on Feb. 2.

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.