Steel Products Prices North America

U.S. Steel, NLMK, UPI Follow with $40 Price Hikes

July 11, 2019

As widely expected, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA and USS-POSCO Industries notified customers Wednesday that they have increased flat rolled steel prices by $40 per ton, following on similar announcements by Nucor and ArcelorMittal the day before. All total, U.S. steelmakers have raised prices for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels by $80 per ton in the past two weeks in the hopes of reversing a slide that has cut 40 percent from the price of their products over the past year.

In its initial price change two weeks ago, NLMK published minimums of $560 per ton for hot rolled and $700 for cold rolled and coated products. Adding the latest $40 increase raises the market price NLMK (and the other mills) hope to collect up to $600 for HR and $740 for CR and galvanized steel.

Steel Market Update’s latest data collected this week places the current benchmark price for hot rolled at $535 per ton, cold rolled at $700 and galvanized at $710. So, the mills have a ways to go if they hope to collect the full increase. It appears they’ve already made some headway, however. SMU data shows the current average market price is up $15 from last week. Whether this marks the turnaround point for steel prices depends on how well the market accepts the latest price hikes in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, SMU’s Price Momentum Indicator will remain at Neutral until the market establishes a clear direction.