Steel Products Prices North America
January 29, 2019
Flat Rolled Mills Seek $40 Increase; Second Time’s the Charm?
Written by Tim Triplett
Major domestic steelmakers have announced a $40 per ton ($2/cwt) hike in the price of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products, fueling the debate over whether current market conditions can support an increase or if the latest announcement is bound to flop like the last one in October.
West Coast mills California Steel Industries and USS-POSCO Industries were the first to announce last week. They were followed by Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group and U.S. Steel on Monday. NLMK USA made its announcement today of a $40 per ton increase on spot orders of all its products, effective immediately. SMU has been advised by various sources that ArcelorMittal has verbally informed customers of its intention to raise prices by a comparable $40, although SMU had not seen written confirmation as of our deadline this evening. The notice from U.S. Steel was a bit out of the ordinary as the mill does not typically announce its price changes.
