STEEL FIRMS STUDY USX <X> UNIT PRICE HIKE
Two major steel companies said they
were studying a price increase announced yesterday by USX
Corp's USS steelmaking division.
    Spokesman for Armco Inc <AS> and Bethlehem Steel Corp <BS>
said the proposed price hike was under study.
    Yesterday, USS said it plans to raise base prices on plate
products by 20 dlrs a ton, or about five pct, effective with
shipments October 4.
    A spokesman for LTV Steel Co, a unit of LTV Corp <QLTV>,
declined comment, adding that the company does not make heavy
plate and makes few other plate products.
    A spokesman for <National Steel Corp>, a joint venture of
National Intergroup Inc <NII> and Nippon Kokan K.K., said the
company is not in the product lines affected.
    Reached later, an Inland Steel Industries Inc <IAD>
spokesman said the company was studying the pricing move.
    USX said the increase will be on all plate products,
including carbon, high-strength low-alloy, strip mill and alloy
plates. It also said it planned 20-dlr-a-ton increases on some
special plate widths and thicknesses.
    Analysts have said firm prices for steel should contribute
to better results at the nation's major steelmakers.
 Reuter
