Steel Mills

Cliffs Raises Sheet Prices $100/ton, Seeks $1,200/ton HRC

Written by Michael Cowden

March 13, 2023

Cleveland-Cliffs aims to increase spot market prices for hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated flat-rolled steel by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt) effective immediately.

The Cleveland-based steelmaker also said its new minimum base price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) was $1,200 per ton in a press released on Monday, March 13.

cliffs natural resourcesThat’s up from the $1,100-per-ton target HRC price it announced in late February.

The company has announced six increases totaling $450 per ton since the beginning of the year. The first three were $50 per ton each and the second three $100 per ton each, according to SMU’s price increase calendar.

Recall, too, that Cliffs rolled out its first increase of the year on Jan. 17, up $50 and targeting $800 per ton. That implied Cliffs’ HRC price at the time was $750 per ton. If the company achieves $1,200 per ton, it would represent a 60% gain in less than three months.

SMU’s HRC price stands at $1,075 per ton, up 46% from $735 per ton in mid-January, per our pricing tool. We will next adjust prices on Tuesday evening.

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 has since 2014 specialized in flat-rolled steel but has previously reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago - where he was involved in launching AMM's daily hot-rolled coil index, 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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