SSAB Americas seeks to raise plate prices $60/ton

SSAB Americas plans to increase plate prices by at least $60 per short to (st), according to a letter to customers dated Thursday, Oct. 24.

The higher prices are effective immediately for all new non-contract orders scheduled to ship on or after Dec. 2. They apply equally to as-rolled, normalized, and wide cut-to-length plate, the company said.

“SSAB Americas reserves the right to re-quote any open offers not confirmed by an SSAB order acknowledgment,” Chris Oggenfuss, director of commercial strategy and sustainability products sales, said in the letter.

SSAB Americas is a subsidiary of Swedish steelmaker SSAB. It operates two plate mills in the US: one in Montpelier, Iowa, and another near Mobile, Ala.

The company has not announced a price increase since last year. It last posted a price hike (also of $60/st) on Nov. 28, 2023, according to SMU’s price announcement calendar.

Plate prices have fallen steadily but significantly over the last year. SMU’s plate price now stands at $910/st on average. That’s down 3.2% from $950/st a month ago and 38.3% from $1,475/st a year ago.

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.