Distributors/Service Centers

ArcelorMittal Aims for $700/ton HR, $950/ton CR and Coated

December 2, 2022

ArcelorMittal US has announced new, higher sheet prices with the opening of its 2023 order books.

The company said it has also rolled out new grade extras, which will take effect on Jan 1., to reflect higher alloy costs.

The price increases effectively apply to AM/NS Calvert, the Alabama mill jointly owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Recall that ArcelorMittal sold its northern mills to Cleveland-Cliffs in 2020.

The steelmaker’s new target price for hot-rolled coil is $700 per ton ($35 per cwt). Its new target price for cold-rolled and coated products is $950 per ton ($47.50 per cwt).

The higher prices were effective immediately on Tuesday, Nov. 29, according to a notice circulated among ArcelorMittal’s commercial team.

The price hikes were announced with the opening of the mill’s hot-rolled order book for January and with the opening of order books for tandem products for both January and February.

“We reserve the right to modify any outstanding quotations,” the company said in the letter.

The last week has seen a host of mills in the US and Canada announce price increases of $60 per ton ($80 per ton CAD). The AM/NS Calvert announcement was slightly different in that it specified new base prices rather than the amount of the increase.

Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $625 per ton, up $10 per ton from our prior assessment but down $60 per ton from $685 per ton a month ago.

AM/NS Calvert, roughly 35 miles north of Mobile, Ala., has an annual capacity of 5.3 million tons, according to its website. It serves a wide array of end markets – including automotive, construction, pipe and tube, and appliance/HVAC.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

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.