| Dear Customer,
I’ll get right to it: effective October 1st, 2026, CSC steel pail ONLY pricing will increase by 7.3%.
Please note that our total input costs are up roughly 15% over this same stretch. We’re passing along less than half of that. The rest, we’re absorbing.
I know that’s not the email anyone wants to open right now, so let me walk you through exactly what’s driving it (like we have all year):
Source: Steel Market Update (SMU), Aug 18, 2026 — steelmarketupdate.com
The cold-rolled steel market hasn’t given us a break all year. According to Steel Market Update’s August 18, 2026 price ranges report, cold-rolled coil now averages $1,430 per short ton, which is up $30 per ton in a single week!
Source: Steel Market Update (SMU), Aug 18, 2026 — steelmarketupdate.com
SMU’s price momentum indicator still points higher, meaning they expect further increases in the short term.
For perspective, when we announced our July 1 adjustment, SMU’s cold-rolled average was $1,260 per short ton. That’s a $170 per ton increase in cold-rolled steel in roughly three months, based on SMU pricing data. We set our Q3 price at a level we believed we could hold until Q4 (which we did!!), but the market has kept climbing beneath it.
Imports aren’t offering relief either. Steel Market Update’s August 7 import analysis shows cold-rolled coil import licenses fell nearly 40% month-over-month in July, with flat-rolled imports overall dropping sharply. Fewer imported tons means less competition for domestic mills, and less downward pressure on the cold-rolled prices we pay.
Source: Steel Market Update (SMU), Aug 7, 2026 — steelmarketupdate.com
Steel isn’t the only input climbing. Diesel now averages $5.45 per gallon nationally, up nearly 20 cents in a single week and $1.74 higher than a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s August 18 update.
| The Broader Cost Environment Hasn’t Let Up |
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Commodities — In June we noted the IMF’s Global Commodity Price Index had jumped 15% from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026, the sharpest quarterly increase in over two years. It has since climbed another 6.8% in Q2, putting the index nearly 23% higher than it was at the end of 2025.
Tariffs — The 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel remain fully in place, continuing to limit import competition and support elevated domestic steel prices, along with added costs on coatings, components, and equipment we can’t fully offset.
Electricity — Data center growth is straining the regional power grid. Reuters reports that capacity prices set by PJM Interconnection – the grid operator covering Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, where our pail plants operate have risen more than 1,000%, and industrial electricity prices climbed 26% in Ohio and 31% in Pennsylvania over the past year, versus 7% nationwide.
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We’ve absorbed what we could for as long as we could. This adjustment reflects the portion of the cost increase we can no longer carry.
| What’s Changing |
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The adjustment — 7.3% on CSC steel pail pricing, effective October 1st, 2026
What’s driving it — Cold-rolled steel first and foremost, tracked against Steel Market Update pricing data, compounded by freight, energy, and tariff costs that keep climbing alongside it.
What’s not changing — Our lead times, our quality standards, and the team you work with every day.
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| What You Can Do Right Now |
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Talk to your sales manager — If you want to walk through timing, volumes, or how this lands on your specific products, reach out.
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We do NOT take price changes lightly, and we don’t make them until we have to.
Thank you for your continued trust in Cleveland Steel Container!
As always, we’re here to make good pails and deliver them on-time. |
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