Futures

ArcelorMittal Follows Cliffs, Up $50/ton on Sheet

Written by Michael Cowden

January 18, 2023

ArcelorMittal has joined the effort initiated by Cleveland-Cliffs to increase spot prices for steel sheet by at least another $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt).

The move is effective immediately for material from AM/NS Calvert, the steelmaker’s joint venture mill in Alabama with Japan’s Nippon Steel.

ArcelorMittal“We reserve the right to modify any outstanding quotations,” the company said in a letter to its commercial team on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

The move coincided with Calvert closing its February order book for all products. “We are currently accepting March orders,” the company said.

ArcelorMittal did not specify target bases prices in its announcement. But Cleveland-based Cliffs said earlier this week that it was aiming for $800 per ton for hot-rolled coil.

The multination steelmaker has, like Cliffs, announced three price hikes since Thanksgiving – one of $60 per ton and two each of $50 per ton.

ArcelorMittal also aims to increase sheet prices in Canada. The company announced that its ArcelorMittal Dofasco sheet mill in Hamilton, Ontario, would hike prices by Canadian $70 per ton in a Jan. 18 letter to commercial team members there.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $740 per ton, up only $5 per ton from last week. That figure is, however, up a more significant $135 per ton compared to a 2022 low, recorded the week before Thanksgiving, of $615 per ton, per SMU’s pricing tool.

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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