Steel Prices
Cliffs opens May spot order book at $975/ton HR
Written by David Schollaert
April 11, 2025
Cleveland-Cliffs opened its May order book for spot material at $975 per short ton (st).
The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the increase was in “recognizing additional market opportunities from multiple onshoring initiatives” in a letter to customers dated Friday, April 11.
The price hike was effective immediately and marks a $75/st bump from the company’s previous list price of $900/st, per SMU’s price increase calendar.
Cliffs said the increase was also in part due to steady demand from contract customers in “critical steel-intensive markets.”
The move comes as US hot band prices declined for a third straight week. Uncertainty around tariffs, especially after “Liberation Day,” caused US prices to slip as buyers moved to the sidelines. And it’s unclear whether the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, announced by President Trump on Wednesday, would see buyers return to the market.
SMU’s current HR coil price range is $840-970/st, with an average price of $905/st. That’s down $10/st from our previous assessment. We also calculated the average lead time for the HR sheet to be 5.5 weeks, down from 5.9 weeks in early March.
David Schollaert
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