Steel Mills

NLMK USA Aims for $1000/ton HRC, $1200/ton CRC and Coated

February 22, 2023

NLMK USA has announced new, higher base prices for steel sheet.

The steelmaker said the higher prices were effectively immediately on all new spot orders and justified by “strong demand and extending lead times,” in a letter to customers on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

NLMK NLMK USA said that its new minimum base price for hot-rolled coil was $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) and that base prices for cold-rolled and coated products were $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt).

“Orders received and not yet confirmed are subject to this increase,” the company said in the letter.

NLMK USA’s price increase on Wednesday followed price hikes announced on Tuesday by Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, US Steel, and ArcelorMittal.

The company’s competitors announced price hikes of $100 per ton. NLMK USA did not say how much it was increasing prices. But it’s $1,000 per ton base price for hot-rolled coil matches target prices announced by Nucor, Cliffs, and ArcelorMittal. (US Steel did not specify a target base price for HRC.)

Unlike other steelmakers, NLMK USA did specify target prices for cold-rolled and coated products.

NLMK USA operates an electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel mill in Portage, Ind., a hot-strip mill and cold-reduction mill in Farrell, Pa., and a galvanizing facility in Sharon, Pa. The Portage mill has a capacity of 800,000 tons per year.

The company has a smaller presence in the US than major sheet mills such as Nucor, Cliffs, and US Steel. But it is a significant player in the spot market.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $875 per ton, up 28% from $685 per ton at the beginning of the year and up 42% from a 2022 low of $615 per ton recorded in late November.

Our hot-rolled coil lead time, meanwhile, is 5.41 weeks, up 16% from 4.68 weeks at the beginning of the year and up 39% from 3.9 weeks in late November, according to SMU’s pricing tool.

Lead times and prices typically trend together over time.

It’s too early for our prices, which were updated on Tuesday, to reflect the $310 per ton in price increases announced by US mills since late November.

Editor’s note: Having trouble keeping track of all the price hikes that have been announced since Thanksgiving? Our price increase calendar keeps tabs for you. Check it out here.

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.