Steel Prices

Nucor aims for $675/ton for HR

Written by Ethan Bernard

July 29, 2024

Nucor has raised its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $675 per short ton (st), up $25/st from last week.

HR prices for CSI, the company’s sheet subsidiary in California, also increased by $25/st, rising to $745/st. Note that sheet prices on the West Coast are typically higher than those east of the Rocky Mountains.

While the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the CSP allows Nucor to offer “customers superior lead times,” it did not offer precise figures this week. In previous weeks, it had said lead times would be offered between 3-5 weeks.

Nucor commented in this week’s pricing announcement, “While a surge in dumped and subsidized flat rolled imports during the first half of 2024 has affected our pricing, we are currently experiencing higher raw material prices and have recently seen increased order entries reflecting our customers’ resilient underlying demand.”

Nucor introduced its weekly CSP in early April. Sheet prices have been largely declining for most of 2024.

SMU’s average price for HR slipped to $635/st as of last Tuesday, down $5/st from a week earlier.

We will update sheet and plate prices on Tuesday evening.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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