Steel Prices

Cliffs up $30/ton, seeks $730/ton for HR

Written by Michael Cowden

August 21, 2024

Cleveland-Cliffs aims to fetch $730 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled coil, up $30/st from its last published price.

The steelmaker said the move was effective immediately and “due to ongoing market developments” in a letter to customers on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

“Cleveland-Cliffs Steel will continue monitoring several key market drivers and reserves the right to modify pricing prior to opening the spot October booking availability,” the company added.

SMU has updated its mill price announcement calendar to reflect the announcement.

Note that Cliffs’ new price is also $35/st higher than Nucor’s published HR price of $695/st.

Recall that Nucor updates its published price every Monday. Cliffs price is officially a monthly one. But the steelmaker has said it reserves the right to update its price more frequently if it sees fit.

SMU’s HR price stands at $675/st on average, up $10/st from last week and up $40/st from late July. We will next update prices on Tuesday.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He has since 2014 specialized in flat-rolled steel but has previously reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago - where he was involved in launching AMM's daily hot-rolled coil index, 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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