Contributor: Michael Cowden

Fuel surcharges continue to march higher along with increased steel prices and ballooning costs for raw materials such as ferrous scrap and pig iron. Case in point: Wheeling-Nippon Steel’s fuel surcharge will increase to 24% effective with shipments on Monday, April 4. “The surcharge will continue to be added to the freight on all invoices […] The post SMU Survey Respondents Flag Fuel Surcharges as Costs March Higher appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Nucor has increased the raw materials surcharge (RMS) for customers buying steel sheet on terms linked to scrap prices. The Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker said its RMS – based on prices for busheling scrap – would be $515 per ton ($25.75 per cwt) in April, a $190-per-ton increase from prior levels. The higher RMS will be […] The post Nucor Increases RMS for Scrap-Linked Sheet Deals by $190/ton appeared first on Steel Market Update.

SSAB Americas has increased plate prices by $63 per ton ($3.15 per cwt) based on a raw materials surcharge mechanism unveiled last week. The Mobile, Ala.-based steelmaker said the higher prices would apply to all new spot orders as well as both new and existing contractual agreements effective April 3. The company reiterated that the […] The post SSAB Increases Plate Prices by $63/ton on Higher Heavy Melt Costs appeared first on Steel Market Update.

You don’t need SMU pontificating about how the Russia-Ukraine conflict marks the end of the post-WWII order. Suffice it to say the world we woke up to today is vastly different from the one we reported on in our last edition. We’re also getting used to thinking about things we haven’t had to think about […] The post Final Thoughts appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Some North American flat-rolled steelmakers were silent when asked what the impact of the conflict between the U.S. and Russia might be on their operations. Others said their supply lines weren’t in the crossfire. One reason for the silence in some corners: Many rely heavily either on Russian slab or Russian or Ukrainian pig iron […] The post Some U.S. Steelmakers Shielded from Fallout from Russia-Ukraine War appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will indefinitely idle the No. 4 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steelmaking campus in northwest Indiana. The Cleveland-based steelmaker also announced that it was raising prices for April orders of carbon hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated flat-rolled steel by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). Cliffs will transfer hot metal production […] The post Cliffs to Idle Indiana Harbor No. 4 Blast Furnace, Raises Prices $50/ton appeared first on Steel Market Update.

The Tampa Steel Conference has wrapped up, and I thank all of you who attended and who took the time to catch up with me on stage or along the sidelines. Below are five themes that I took away from the event. If I were to sum it up in a sentence, it’s this: Steel […] The post Final Thoughts appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. might shut a blast furnace this year, the company’s top executive said. “When we make a move, we make a move. … You might see a blast furnace going down for good still in 2022,” Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during a fireside chat at the Tampa Steel Conference this […] The post Cliffs Could ‘Stretch’ Hot Metal and Take Down a Blast Furnace in ’22: Goncalves appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. could join other steel producers in adding electric-arc furnace (EAF) capacity, the company’s top executive said. The Cleveland-based steelmaker is considering that because the cost of relining a blast furnace – and investing in the supply chains needed to feed it – are roughly the same as those for of building a new EAF. […] The post Cliffs Considers Converting BF to EAF Amid Mine Idling, Coke Plant Closure: CEO appeared first on Steel Market Update.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is expected to take an approximately 80-90 day planned outage on the No. 5 blast furnace at its Cleveland Works starting in mid to late March, according to market participants. The outage is expected to last until roughly mid-June. It is not expected to impact customers because the Cleveland-based steelmaker can stock slabs […] The post Cliffs Expected to Take 80-90 Day Outage on Cleveland No. 5 Furnace: Sources appeared first on Steel Market Update.