Nucor increases plate prices by $60/ton

The move comes just two weeks after Nucor said it would maintain plate prices for a sixth straight month with the opening of its October order book. It also follows a $60/st price bump by SSAB Americas – another major US plate producer – on Friday, Sept. 26.

It’s Nucor’s first official price change since it raised plate tags by $40/st back on March 28, according to SMU’s mill price announcement calendar.

The letter didn’t specify a base price for normalized and quenched-and-tempered plate as Nucor’s announcements normally do. But the increase is believed to apply to all plate products.

“We reserve the right to re-quote any order not confirmed by an order acknowledgement,” the company said in the letter.

Pricing dynamics

The latest pricing note from Nucor would, in theory, place its base A36 discrete plate at ~$1,335/st, for standard thickness and width. And it would create a $375/st gap between Nucor’s theoretical price and the current market price.

SMU’s plate price stands at $960/st on average as of Sept. 23, down $5/st week on week. Plate prices have declined by nearly $200/st since late June, and are down ~$65/st over the past month, according to SMU’s interactive pricing tool, which you can find here.

SMU will next update sheet and plate prices later today.