SteelNews.com Article
Corus Raises Prices for Reversing Mill Plate
Mar. 22, 2010 Corus Long Products is increasing transaction prices for reversing mill plate by £60 per tonne, effective on all orders received from March 22.
The increase is in addition to the £60-per-tonne rise that was introduced on reversing mill plate from February 7 following Corus Long Products’ general price-rise announcement at the end of January.
Corus Long Products says that this and other price increases that it plans to introduce on its product range during the second quarter are a consequence of significant changes in the reversing mill plate and general steels markets, principally in the form of rising input costs caused by availability constraints. The company also notes that global reversing mill plate supply chains have destocked and inventories are now considered to be in balance.
"With rapidly rising costs, steelmakers’ working capital requirements are mushrooming and already meager margins are being eroded,” said Martin Maley, Commercial Manager Long Products Business. “Passing on these cost increases, despite the fragile market recovery, is a must for the steel industry, given the raw materials stranglehold.”
Corus is Europe's second largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations primarily in the U.K. and the Netherlands, the company supplies steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering, and other demanding markets worldwide. Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, one of the world’s top ten steel producers. The combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.