LOS ANGELES — Gerdau Long Steel North America has cut beam product prices by $30 per ton while also adjusting the company’s official price announcement policy to account for market "volatility."

The move by the Tampa, Fla.-based producer, effective Oct. 11, makes a $1.50-per-hundredweight price cut unanimous among major producers. The same decrease has been posted by Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., Blytheville, Ark.; the structural and rail division of Steel Dynamics Inc., Columbia City, Ind.; and Nucor Corp.’s Berkeley, S.C., beam mill (amm.com, Oct. 11).

Additionally, Stan Baucum, Gerdau’s commercial director for structurals, pilings and bantam beams, told customers that in light of continued steel market volatility, all future price announcements "will be effective immediately at the time of the announcement, to include existing orders."

While price cuts are normally made effective at the time they’re announced, beam price hikes often take place in the month following an announcement.