Steel plate price hikes draw line in sand

Apr 12, 2012 | 03:34 PM | Anne Riley

Tags  steel plate, Nucor, ArcelorMittal, SSAB, anne riley

NEW YORK — Steel plate mills’ push to raise tags has not yet translated into higher transaction prices for most buyers, but the move has helped keep domestic tags from softening further, market sources told AMM.

"I didn’t see the market number move at all. The (increase announcements) were more to try to solidify prices," a source at one carbon plate distributor said.

A plate processor source agreed, noting that prices have seen little movement in the weeks since the announcements. "Everyone is making these price announcements, and everyone is waiting to see if they stick," he said.

Nucor Corp. said last month it was raising net transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton ($2 per hundredweight) for all new orders of heat-treated, quenched and tempered, normalized and as-rolled carbon plate (AMM, March 23). SSAB Americas quickly joined in, announcing its own plans to raise transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective with orders scheduled to ship the week of April 29 (AMM, March 26). ArcelorMittal USA Inc. did not put out a letter raising prices, sources said, but it has "followed suit verbally," the distributor source said.....