US wide flange beams market - Nucor raises prices again

Due to the strength of the domestic market for structural products, Nucor has raised prices for June orders of wide flange beams by $1.10 cwt. ($24 /mt or $22 /nt). Beginning June 1, 2006, domestic wide flange beams offers (for product grade ASTM A992, sizes W10 x 10, W18 x 6, and W24 x 7) will range from $32.85 cwt. to $33.10 cwt. ($724 /mt to $730 /mt or $657 /nt to $662 /nt) FOB mill. This increase is slightly higher than $20 /nt increase industry experts were predicting. Prices have increased because the market is extremely strong right now, and mills are very busy. Demand is increasing because of high construction activity, including houses, churches, malls, and other infrastructure, products of growing urbanization. The recently passed Highway Transportation bill, which provides for the renovation and construction of highways, is also adding to demand. Domestic mills can hardly produce enough beams to cover demand, and some domestic mills are now looking for imports to supplement production. Meanwhile, import pricing is also increasing, though not overwhelmingly. Import beam offers have increased by $0.50 cwt. ($11 /mt or $10 /nt) in the last month, now ranging from $29.00 cwt. to $30.50 cwt. ($639 /mt to $672 /mt or $580 /nt to $610 /nt). Most imports are coming from Russia and Poland, and there are no longer offers coming from Korea or Japan. Because of strong domestic demand, the pricing trend for import wide flange beams is still up.