Nucor’s (CSP) -the price charges for hot-rolled coils across all of its mills- was steady for an eleventh week, even as US steel market participants report tepid activity, and unremarkable demand continues to dominate US flat steel markets.
In a two-day delayed letter to its customers, Nucor reported that its CSP was stable once again at $750/nt ($827/mt) or $37.50/cwt., FOB mill, up from $740/nt ($816/mt) or $37.00/cwt., most recently for the weeks of November 4 and October 28. Since October 14, the CSP price has increased by nearly 4.2 percent, while since July 15, the CSP has risen nearly 15.4 percent.
The Nucor CSP price remains at a discount to its nearest competitor Cleveland-Cliffs, which announced a $50/nt ($55.12/mt) price increase a full month ago, for its February Hot Rolled Market Price to $800/nt FOB mill. It was expected that Nucor would match the earlier Cleveland price increase but that has yet to occur.
In the flat steel markets, the SteelOrbis spot weekly average for HRC is reported flat at $690/nt ($761/mt), or $34.50/cwt., delivered to customer, up from $675/nt ($744/mt) or $33.50-34.00/cwt., in an earlier weekly assessment.
Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) monitor also remains unchanged for an eleventh week at $810/nt ($893/mt) or $40.50/cwt., following its last $10/nt ($11/mt) increase October 30.
Over the past several months, flagging finished steel demand resulted in Nucor reducing its CSP as low as $650/nt ($717/mt), or $32.50/cwt. during the week of July 15. Since that time, however, prices have fallen only once for two weeks on October 14 and October 21 to $720/nt ($794/mt) or $36.00/cwt., from $730/nt ($805/mt) or $36.50/cwt. Market insiders report that Nucor continues to keep its posted CSP pricing above the mills’ $32.50/nt variable cost of doing business because selling below that price could cause the mill to lose money, they said.
Since the first series of price increases were announced on July 29, Nucor’s CSP has increased 11.1 percent to its recent $750/nt high. Prior to the increases, Nucor’s CSP price had lost nearly 22 percent of its value on flagging demand for finished steel products since the CSP was first released in early April at $830/nt ($915/mt) or $41.50/cwt.