Steel Prices

Nucor increases plate prices by $160/ton

Written by Michael Cowden

February 24, 2025

Nucor aims to increase prices for steel plate by $160 per short ton (st) with the opening of its April order book.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the increase was effective with new orders received on Monday, Feb. 24, in a letter to customers dated the same day.

The company said the price hike applied equally to carbon, normalized, and quenched-and-tempered products.

“We reserve the right to review and re-quote any offers that are not confirmed with either a Nucor sales acknowledgement or written acceptance by both parties,” the company said in the letter.

Nucor’s $160/st plate price hike comes after the company increased plate prices by $60/st in both early February and late January. All told, Nucor has increased plate price by $280/st in less than a month, according to SMU’s mill price announcement calendar.

Nucor’s price hike also comes after SSAB Americas – another of the major US plate producers – increased plate prices by $100/st last week. SSAB has increased prices by $240/st over the last month.

Flat-rolled steel prices more broadly speaking have surged higher in recent weeks on higher scrap and pig iron costs as well as the threat of Section 232 tariffs of 25% being applied to all imported steel effective March 12.

The Trump administration has also threated to impose blanket tariffs of 25% on nearly all imports from Canada and Mexico effective March 4.

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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