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 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.

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