Steel Products Prices North America

SSAB Increases Plate Prices $100/Ton

Written by Michael Cowden

March 26, 2021

SSAB Americas aims to increase plate prices by $100 per ton ($5/cwt) on all new non-contract orders, effectively immediately.

The price hike applies equally to as-rolled mill plate, cut-to-length plate more than 72 inches wide, hot-rolled coils more than 72 inches wide, normalized plate, and quenched-and-tempered plate, SSAB said in a letter to customers Friday, March 26.

SSABThe latest price hike means SSAB has increased plate prices by $180 per ton in less than a month. The steelmaker on March 1 rolled out a price increase of $80 per ton.

SSAB said it would also be applying a “standard scrap collar” to “quotations that require firm pricing for an extended period of time.” The company in addition said it would be charging product and freight extras.

A scrap collar works like this: Let’s say a buyer and a steel mill have agreed to a plate price of $1,000 per ton, and the scrap collar is set at $400-500 per ton. If scrap stays within that range, the price a buyer has agreed to pay a mill remains unchanged. If scrap goes higher than that range, then the buyer pays every dollar the scrap price exceeds the collar. On the contrary, if scrap were to fall below the bottom limit of the collar, then the buyer would receive a dollar-for-dollar deduction.

Plate prices, like those for other flat-rolled products, have marched steadily higher since the beginning of the year.

Steel Market Update’s average plate price stands at $1,135 per ton, up 6.1% from $1,070 per ton a month ago and up 29.7% from $875 per ton at the beginning of the year.

Despite those gains, plate prices remain below hot-rolled coil tags, the inverse of what is the case in a typical market.

SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price is at $1,315 per ton – an all-time high.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor 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.

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