Steel Prices

Cliffs opens May spot order book at $975/ton HR

Written by David Schollaert

April 11, 2025

Cleveland-Cliffs opened its May order book for spot material at $975 per short ton (st).

The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the increase was in “recognizing additional market opportunities from multiple onshoring initiatives” in a letter to customers dated Friday, April 11.

The price hike was effective immediately and marks a $75/st bump from the company’s previous list price of $900/st, per SMU’s price increase calendar.

Cliffs said the increase was also in part due to steady demand from contract customers in “critical steel-intensive markets.”

The move comes as US hot band prices declined for a third straight week. Uncertainty around tariffs, especially after “Liberation Day,” caused US prices to slip as buyers moved to the sidelines. And it’s unclear whether the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, announced by President Trump on Wednesday, would see buyers return to the market.

SMU’s current HR coil price range is $840-970/st, with an average price of $905/st. That’s down $10/st from our previous assessment. We also calculated the average lead time for the HR sheet to be 5.5 weeks, down from 5.9 weeks in early March.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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