Steel Mills

Nucor Slates $150/ton Sheet Price Hike, Targets $1,150/ton HRC

Written by Michael Cowden

March 3, 2023

Nucor aims to increase base prices for new orders of steel sheet by at least $150 per ton ($7.50 per cwt) effective immediately.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker also said that its new base price for hot-rolled coil was $1,150 per ton.

Nucor“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 a letter to customers on Friday, March 3.

Nucor’s move is notable because it ups the ante on competitor Cleveland-Cliffs, which on Monday, Feb. 27, announced a $100-per-ton sheet price hike and a new HRC base price of $1,100 per ton.

Some market participants had told SMU that Nucor was unlikely to announce a price increase until after March scrap prices settled. But others had said that an increase would come sooner, and that it would be for more than what Cliffs announced. The latter camp has proven to be correct.

Nucor has now announced four increases totaling $350 per ton in just the last month: two $50-per-ton increases, one each on Feb. 3 and Feb. 13; a third of $100 per ton on Feb. 21; and the latest one of $150 per ton.

You can also keep track of storm of prices increases with SMU’s price increase calendar.

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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