Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States strengthened for the first time this year after mills announced that they would seek price increases.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US climbed back to $26 per hundredweight ($520 per short ton) on Friday August 28 from $25 per cwt on August 21. The assessment had spent one week at $25 per cwt - its lowest point in almost four years - after seven straight weeks at $26 per cwt.Friday marked the first full weekly assessment since Nucor stated in an unusually worded letter to customers on Friday August 21 that it set delivered prices at a minimum of $28 per cwt. Nucor portrayed the move as an increase even though customers in multiple regions were already...