Cleveland-Cliffs raises US sheet steel prices by $50/st minimum

Ohio-based steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs announced an increase to base sheet steel prices by a $50/st minimum on all carbon flat-rolled products in a letter sent to customers Jan. 17.

The company said the increase would be effective immediately on all new spot orders of carbon hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated coil products. The price hike was issued as a result of increases seen in both pricing and volume for the company's automotive steel business, which was "reducing material available to be sold on a spot basis," the company said in its letter to customers.

The steelmaker is now targeting base spot prices for hot-rolled coil starting at $800/st.

The increase also followed Nucor's Jan. 9 announcement of an identical price increase of $50, however Nucor did not include new base price levels.

Since Nucor's announcement, US HRC prices have risen $10, with the daily Platts US HRC index last assessed at $730/st Jan. 13, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.