Steel Prices

Cliffs opens January HR book, holds published price at $750/ton

Written by Michael Cowden

December 3, 2024

Cleveland-Cliffs said it would keep its published price for hot-rolled (HR) coil at $750 per short ton (st) with the opening of its January order book.

“As we turn the page into 2025, we are monitoring contractual bookings and overall drivers in market demand that indicate increased booking requirements from the client base,” the steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Tuesday.

Cleveland-based Cliffs has officially had spot HR prices at $750/st since mid-September, according to SMU’s mill price announcement calendar. Nucor, its Charlotte, N.C.-based EAF competitor, has officially held spot HR prices at $750/st since mid-November.

Spot prices, as tracked by SMU, have fluctuated within a narrow range throughout the fall and have remained significantly below those levels.

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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