Cleveland-Cliffs today announced they’d be raising spot market prices for HRC, CRC, and coated steel products, by $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt), for all new orders.
Although all market sources polled are skeptical that the increase will be accepted, many say they’re not surprised that it was announced.
“Flats mills have a long-documented history of announcing increases when the market is soft in the hopes of preventing prices from falling further,” a source said. “The big question is whether this one will be successful.”
The last time mills rolled out an increase announcement was in late August. That one firmed prices slightly, for about a week, before thing started to head south again.
Current prices for US domestic HRC, CRC, and base-price HDG coil are trending at the following levels:
- HRC $30-$32 cwt. ($662-$705/mt or $600-$640/nt)
- CRC $41-$44 cwt. ($904-$970/mt or $820-$880/nt)
- HDG $40-$42 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt)
Prices for all three products are at the lowest they’ve been since Q4 2020. As of the time of publication, other US domestic steelmakers have yet to announce increases of their own.
