Nucor hikes sheet prices another $30 per ton

Dec 29, 2010 | 03:15 PM | Corinna Petry

A Nucor Corp. executive confirmed Wednesday that the steelmaker had increased base prices by $30 per ton for hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized products effective immediately, pushing the spot market price of hot-rolled at $740 per ton and cold-rolled around $840 per ton.

In its letter announcing the base price increase, Nucor cited the "continued escalation of raw material and input costs" as the impetus for the move.

"Scrap is going up, and we have seen a surge in (spot market) demand over the past couple of weeks," the Nucor executive told AMM. Nucor's January order book is closed, and the company has opened the sheet mills' order books for February. "February is booking nicely," he said.

Steel service centers are scrambling to keep up with the burst of price increases over the past few weeks.

"Increases vary by mill. Some have come out with five announcements, some with four," said a buyer in the South, adding that the market "is marching upwards, but to say it is doing so in unison would be incorrect. It's not in step."....