UPDATE 1-Nucor chief sees decades of high commodity prices

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By Steve James

NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - The price of steel-making raw materials such as iron ore, coal and scrap metal will continue to rise for several years, keeping pressure on manufacturers and consumers, the head of U.S. steelmaker Nucor Corp (NUE.N) said on Wednesday.

"The bull market for commodities will last for decades to come, and our customers need to get used to it," Dan DiMicco, the company's chairman, president and chief executive, told a steel conference.

"Iron ore is up several hundred percent, scrap prices are $600 to 700 per ton, pig iron is $900 per ton, and coal is rising several hundred percent even as we speak," DiMicco said.

"I believe raw materials, including scrap, will continue to see escalation in prices," he said.

His comments, at the American Metal Market's Steel Success Strategies conference, echoed those of U.S. Steel Corp's (X.N) Chief Executive Officer John Surma on Tuesday.

Surma told Reuters that spiraling iron ore costs were pushing steel prices even higher and he warned that growing demand is straining miners' capacity to supply raw materials.

On Monday, China's Baosteel (600019.SS) agreed to a 96.5 percent price hike for iron ore from Rio Tinto (RIO.L) (RIO.AX), and last month Brazilian ore producers won 65 percent price increases. Iron ore is a key ingredient in steel-making.