Plate market sources critique mill hikes amid current market conditions

Some sources claim that adding $60 per short ton to plate products, without publishing corresponding product price sheets, lacks the transparency they rely on to make informed business decisions. 

Their objections follow $60/st price increase letters from SSAB Americas, Nucor, and Oregon Steel Mills this past week. Participants were anticipating a scheduled maintenance outage at one of the domestic plate mills; however, they think the increase is out of sync with the current demand cycle and pricing environment. 

One plate market service center source expressed distrust of the notice. 

“No one’s transacting at these prices. I can promise that. It’s just disingenuous,” he said. 

An East Coast service center source believes the mills are signaling that they will not go any lower on current prices. He said that his business is seeing a modest increase. But he contends that raising prices will not hinder demand because there isn’t a market that is price-sensitive, from what he can tell. 

“Business is up, but only slightly. Not where we want it to be. Increases are just them trying to put a floor under it. The market will settle out in a few weeks,” he commented. 

Are new prices the new norm?

An Ohio Valley-based plate sales executive for a mid-sized service center believes that, despite current market conditions, the price increases could stick as outages impact the November market. 

“Domestic mills have ample supply for sure. But one mill has a scheduled shutdown, and another is having issues with its equipment and running at only 50%. Things could get really tight in November, and their price increases could stick,” said the source. 

On the West Coast, a service center source is optimistic about the state of plate operations. He foresees the hike as part of the strengthening of the plate market. 

He said, “I think plate is going to be a better product for the remainder of the year than sheet because there are less plate mills and imports are not that much of a factor currently.” 

The same West Coast source added that price increases are being passed to customers. But he noted, “I don’t think anyone is going to be taking a big position in plate this time of the year.” 

On Sept. 30, SMU assessed the average spot market price for plate at $975/st. That’s up $15/st from the week before.

In the equivalent week of 2024, the average spot price for plate was $940/st. 

All prices are ex-works domestic mill.