AK Steel Raises Prices, Other Manufacturers May Follow

On April 7, AK Steel Corp. raised its prices on all carbon steel products by $150 per ton for all new orders, effective immediately. In a press release, the company said the hike is in response to higher demand for carbon steel products, as well as the need to recover unprecedented increases in steel-making inputs. But the effects of this move may affect far more than just AK Steel customers.
 
An article published in the April 9 edition of The Oxford (Ohio) Press held that this increase paves the way for other U.S. steel manufacturers to raise their prices to “$1,000 a ton despite the worst national economic downturn in a decade.” Market analysts agree that a high demand for domestic steel as well as an increase in the price of raw materials may mean more steel-makers follow AK’s example. And rising steel price increases will be passed onto consumers of steel-intensive products such as automobiles.
 
AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, as well as carbon and stainless tubular steel products for automotive, appliance, construction and manufacturing markets. It is a Fortune 500 company with more than $6 billion in sales and major plants and offices in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.