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 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.

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