Nucor makes online steel pricing commitment

Nucor Corp. is introducing a weekly Nucor Consumer Spot Price (CSP) in early April. The recycled-content steelmaker says the CSP has been designed to provide its customers with consistent and transparent communications regarding the company’s hot-rolled coil (HRC) spot pricing.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company will issue the first CSP on April 8.

“We are constantly looking for better ways to serve our customers, not only with quality products and services but also with timely information that will help them make informed decisions for their businesses,” says Rex Query, executive vice president at Nucor.

“The CSP will give our customers relevant and current information about Nucor’s sheet business in a rapidly changing marketplace, which we believe will reduce their reliance on speculation and reduce risk.”

The steelmaker intends to release a new CSP figure every Monday, issuing a price that will remain in effect until the next weekly publication.

Nucor's CSP pricing will be derived from both quantitative and qualitative data, and lead times for all spot orders will be offered between three and five weeks to assist customers with planning.

Steelmakers in the United States commonly announce price changes when they occur, with those changes sometimes effective immediately.

Steel price indexes designed to cover product lines, including HRC, based on prices aggregated from several steelmaking firms, are offered by several business information service companies.

The foray into a published spot price marks another vertical venture for Nucor. The company has invested heavily for more than two decades to broaden its presence in upstream markets such as scrap recycling and direct-reduced iron (DRI) production and widen its footprint in downstream steel products sectors, including utility towers and poles, joists, overhead doors, racking and data center infrastructure.

“Over the last six decades, Nucor has continued to differentiate itself by innovating and finding new ways to provide solutions to our valued customers,” Query says. “The CSP is yet another tool that will help our customers succeed over the long term and strengthen our status as one of America’s most diversified and efficient industrial manufacturers.”