Plate sources welcome sticky price hikes, large order volumes

Steel plate market participants think increasing spot prices and growing order volumes could stick around. That’s two encouraging signs for the year ahead, they said.

Oregon Steel Mills, SSAB, and Nucor all increased base prices for plate products by $40 per short ton (st) in the final weeks of December. SMU data also indicates that mills are less likely to negotiate lower plate prices than they had been in prior weeks.