Steel Products
January 25, 2013
ArcelorMittal Raises Prices – Complains of “Manipulation and Discounting of the CRU”
Written by John Packard
ArcelorMittal raised flat rolled spot prices on Wednesday and in the process took a shot at the rest of the industry (and perhaps themselves?) when they identified, “The market manipulation and discounting of the CRU has had a dampening effect on industry spot prices.” They then used the most recent index benchmark plus $45 to obtain their new base pricing on hot rolled coil ($650 per ton). This is quite different from how mills have announced price increases in the past, normally choosing to specify either only a specific dollar amount of the increase or a finished base price.
Here is the text of the ArcelorMittal memo leaked to the industry:
