Steel Prices
Cliffs seeks $800/ton for HR with opening of July books
Written by Michael Cowden
May 23, 2024
Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking at least $800 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil with the opening of its July order book.
The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the move was effective immediately in a letter to customers on Thursday, May 23.
Recall that Cliffs announced in April that it would publish a monthly HR price. The company’s announcement on Thursday represents a $50/st decrease from its published price of $850/st last month.
Despite that decrease, Cliffs is still $30/st higher than Nucor’s published spot HR price of $770/st.
Note that Nucor, unlike Cliffs, updates its published spot HR price weekly. You can keep track of it all with our mill price announcement calendar, which is here.
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Prices
Hot-rolled sources say demand continues to dwindle, prices feel arbitrary
Genuine demand, they stated, will return when the market feels stable again.
Gap between US HR prices, imports narrows
SMU’s average price for domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil was $800 per short ton (st) this week, up $5/st week on week (w/w). In offshore markets last week, prices were varied.
Busheling and shredded tags drop, widening HRC vs. prime scrap spread
US scrap prices fell on busheling and shredded in October, while HMS remained flat, market sources told SMU.
Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.
SMU Price Ranges: HR crawls back to $800/ton
SMU’s HR price stands at $800/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The modest gain came as the low end of our range firmed, and despite the high end of our range declining slightly.