Nucor keeps plate pricing flat

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor kept its plate pricing flat for a second consecutive month.

Nucor maintained the ex-works discrete plate pricing at $1,570/short ton (st), according to a price announcement sent out late on 29 June. The company is now accepting orders for production in August.

Quenched and tempered ex-works plate pricing remains at $2,385/st, while normalized ex-works plate pricing remains at $1,770/st.

Some in the market had hoped Nucor would lower prices as plate remains at elevated spreads to hot rolled coil (HRC).

The Argus US HRC Midwest ex-works assessment fell to $820/st on 27 June, down by 32pc since hitting a peak of $1,200/st in April.

Plate prices have remained flat during the same time period, creating a spread that is now $750/st.

By Rye Druzin