Electric arc furnace steelmaker Nucor has dropped its plate price by $120/short ton (st) to $1,740/st.
The decrease is the largest the company has made since plate prices began increasing back in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in the US.
Plate buyers have voiced concerns about the wide spread between US hot-rolled coil (HRC) ex-works and plate ex-works prices, with HRC prices recently at half of plate.
The spread between Nucor's new plate ex-works price and the Argus US HRC Midwest ex-works assessment is now $894/st.
The Argus US plate ex-works assessment settled at $1,860/st on 26 July. In the second quarter the assessment averaged $1,886/st, and $1,823/st in the first quarter.
