Two steel companies have both announced plans to hike prices for surcharges.
Steel Dynamics Inc. announced that it was raising its raw materials surcharge on flat-rolled steel shipped next month to $100 per ton. The company attributed the decision to rapidly climbing scrap steel prices.
The company’s scrap surcharge at the present time is $60 per ton, according to published reports.
The company adjusts its surcharges every month, depending on the price for the ferrous scrap it takes in.
The escalating price for ferrous scrap, as well as most grades scrap metal, have hammered many of the largest consumers of the material, especially in the United States.
Several other large scrap consuming operations have recently announced plans to increase the charges that they were imposing due to higher scrap prices.
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel also has opted to impose a surcharge on all its shipments of steel and steel products. The company said it is imposing a $12 per ton surcharge on all shipments, beginning Feb. 16. The company added that it will keep the surcharge in place until further notice.
Steven W. Sorvold, vice president - commercial of WPSC and COO of Wheeling Corrugating Co., said that the continued increases in the cost of raw materials led to the additional surcharge. The $12 increase brings the total surcharge to $42 per ton.
"The rapid increase in our costs of raw materials is unlike anything this industry has ever experienced. We hope that this surcharge is only for a short period of time. Our costs of raw materials will be the deciding factor on how long this surcharge will last," said Sorvold.