Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States rose after ferrous scrap prices strengthened and JSW Steel USA idled its Texas plate mill, supporting other mills' increases.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US climbed to $27.50 per hundredweight ($550 per short ton) on Friday September 18 from $26 per cwt on Friday September 11. The assessment has risen 10% since late August. Plate mills are in the midst of implementing two rounds of price increases announced over the past month. Nucor said it set a minimum delivered price of $29.50 per cwt and is proving to be influential, according to some buyers. Some market participants who thought that plate prices could not go up because demand was simply too week have changed their minds and now foresee higher prices for a month or two. As plate mills start taking orders for November shipment, they are demanding higher prices, citing their rising ferrous...