US flat rolled steelmaker AK Steel Corp. this week issued its second spot price hike for the New Year.
AK Steel said late Tuesday that it will increase spot market prices for carbon steel products by $30/nt for all new orders accepted for shipment on January 1, 2010 and later. This price increase is in addition to a previously announced price increase of $20/nt ($22/mt or $1.00 cwt.) for carbon hot rolled products, and $30/nt ($33/mt or $1.50 cwt.) for carbon cold rolled and coated products, also effective with January 1, 2010 shipments.
In addition to the abovementioned January price hikes issued last month, AK's latest move pushes its January spot prices for hot rolled products up by a total of $50/nt ($55/mt or $2.50 cwt.) and cold rolled and galvanized products up by a total of $60/nt ($66/mt or $3.00 cwt.) when compared to December pricing. AK's move comes after Severstal North America last week announced a two-tier price hike for January/February, which also raised spot prices for these items up a cumulative $50 to $60/nt compared to December offers.
AK said the price increase is in response to increased demand for its carbon steel products, as well as the need to recover higher costs for steelmaking inputs.