SSAB, Nucor aim to increase plate prices by $60/ton

At least two major US plate producers – SSAB Americas and Nucor – plan to increase plate prices by at least $60 per short ton (st).

SSAB’s increase

SSAB Americas plans to increase plate prices by at least $60 per short ton (st), according to a letter sent to customers on Monday.

The steelmaker said the increase would apply to all new spot orders confirmed to ship on or after May 31.

“Published extras, regional freight premiums and non-preferred freight mode extras will be applied,” the company said in the letter.

The latest price hike comes after SSAB last month said it would hike plate prices by $60/st for all spot orders scheduled to ship on or after May 3.

SSAB Americas, the US subsidiary of Swedish steelmaker SSAB, operates two plate mills in the US: one near Mobile, Ala., the other in Montpelier, Iowa.

Nucor’s price hike

Nucor said it plans to increase plate prices for as-rolled and normalized product by at least $60/st. The Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker also said it aimed to boost prices for quenched-and-tempered (Q&T) product by at least $80/st.

The company last month said it would increase prices for as-rolled plate by $40/st and those for heat-treated material by $60/st.

Nucor, in addition, said it would implement a fuel surcharge (FSC) on all shipments beginning on May 1. The company said the move was necessary “to address increased costs in fuel and logistics,” in a letter to customers on Monday.

Many respondents to a recent SMU steel market survey said higher fuel and freight costs stemming from the Iran War were impacting their businesses.

“The FSC will be updated monthly to reflect real freight cost changes in the market,” Nucor said in the letter. The company said each month’s fuel surcharge would be announced on the 15th of the prior month. (May’s surcharge, for example, should be announced on April 15.)

Editor’s note: You can keep tabs on price increases with SMU’s mill price announcement calendar.

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.