LOS ANGELES — Gerdau Long Steel North America has joined a move to raise beam prices by $25 per ton ($1.25 per hundredweight) next month.

The increase affects transaction prices for beams and piling products effective with April 1 shipments, the Tampa, Fla.-based producer said in a March 13 letter to customers. The hike follows similar moves by Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., Blytheville, Ark., and Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp.’s Berkeley, S.C., beam mill (amm.com, March 13).

A fourth major producer, the Structural and Rail division of Steel Dynamics Inc., Columbia City, Ind., was still evaluating a hike as of mid-day March 14, according to market sources.

The increase would raise the f.o.b. mill price for core sizes of wide-flange beams to $805 per ton ($40.25 per hundredweight) from $780 per ton ($39 per cwt) previously.