Severstal North America sent a letter to customers Friday morning indicating that minimum prices on new orders acknowledged for shipment on February 27 and later will be as follows:
Hot rolled bands: $38.50 cwt. ($849/mt or $770/nt)
Cold rolled: $44.00 cwt. ($970/mt or $880/nt)
Hot dipped galvanized: $44.00 cwt. ($970/mt or $880/nt)
New published prices reflect an increase of $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) from Severstal's last published price announcement in mid-December.
Severstal attributed the increase to demand in its major steel market continuing to improve and "the outlook for the first quarter is positive and is projected to continue to improve in the weeks ahead."