US domestic plate price up; mills finally enjoy momentum

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States jumped after enough buyers accepted the latest round of price increases from domestic mills.

Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate, fob mill US climbed to $31 per hundredweight ($620 per short ton) on Friday October 30, up by 5.1% from $29.50 per cwt ($590 per short ton) on October 23.
Although six rounds of attempted mill hikes this year have not gone through in their totality, the cut-to-length assessment is now up by 24% since hitting a year-to-date low of $25 per cwt in late August.
Lead times generally have extended into December - to around five to six weeks.

SSAB Americas initiated the most recent price increase on October 16, and other mills followed with similar announcements within two business days. Nucor published a...

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