Nucor seeks wide-flange-beams price above $1,000/ton

By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 4/9/2008 12:59:00 PM

Nucor is reported to be increasing the May list prices on merchant bar and rebar by $147/ton, or roughly 20%, and on wide-flange beams by $110/ton, about 16%. As usual, there has been no corporate pricing announcement but the increase was included in a letter to customers, according to reports by the Steel Business Briefing and American Metals Market subscription newsletters.

Based on previous Nucor claims that the April price for merchant bar is $803, the May-delivered price will become $850. The pricing action will put May rebar (concrete steel reinforcing bar) at $900/ton, up from $753 this month while wide-flange beams will move to $1010 from $900.

The Nucor numbers are all somewhat higher than the buyer reports. Purchasingdata.com has reported that the March price average for merchant bar was $770, rebar was $677 and wide-flange beams were $858. Some upward movement for April deliveries was being expected by buyers, primarily due to scrap surcharge increases, but the anticipated $20-$25/ton hikes still would undercut the Nucor list pricing for this month.