Steel Blog: "Steel Prices, News and Analysis" > Official Blog of STEEL MARKET UPDATE

An Excellent First Step in Rehabilitating Ports--AIIS Applauds Passage of Water Resources Development Act By Senate

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:41:14 -0400

Falls Church, VA, May 17, 2013 - The full US Senate passed S601, the Water Resources Development Act by a vote of 83-14 on a strongly bipartisan vote. Read more ...

Construction Employment Declines

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:35:09 -0400

AGC of America, May 17, 2013 - Construction employment declined in 32 states and the District of Columbia in April even as 29 states added jobs between April 2012 and April 2013, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Read more ...

Michael Rehwinkel Elected Chairman of American Iron and Steel Institute

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:09:29 -0400

Colorado Springs, CO –The Board of Directors of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has elected Michael T. Rehwinkel, President and CEO of EVRAZ North America, to serve as Chairman of the Institute until May of 2014 Read more ...

New York Business Conditions Down for 1st Time Since January

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:42:55 -0400

Business conditions in New York State deteriorated in May for the first time since January. Read more ...

U.S. River Shipments Down— Imported Steel Shipments Softening

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:03:47 -0400

Shipments on America’s rivers were flat in April according to the May 7 MID-SHIP Report. Imported steel shipments picked up in early 2013 but have since softened. Volumes are expected to be lethargic for the next 60 days. Read more ...

Exceptional Steel Training Course Offered by Steel Market Update

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:43:16 -0400

We have a little more than three weeks before our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop. We still have a number of seats left so now is a good time to pull at the boss’s sleeves and plead your case: I want to know more, I want to become a better employee and I want to grow in this business. I want to attend Steel Market Update’s Steel 101 workshop Read more ...

Steel Exports Rise in March But Remain below 2012 Levels

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:05:19 -0400

Falls Church, VA, May 9, 2013 – Steel exports increased in March 2013 over February 2013 by 6.1% based on government reporting. “The stronger showing for steel exports in March was due primarily to increased shipments to our NAFTA partners, but notably, exports increased to all other smaller export markets as well, with the exception of the small markets in Africa. Read more ...

Vale Hopes to Capture Greater Share of U.S. Market

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:25:54 -0400

Brazilian iron ore miner Vale is hoping to secure a bigger share of the U.S. market by supplying ore for DRI production. Read more ...

New Management Appointments at Steel Dynamics, Inc.

Mon, 06 May 2013 20:36:23 -0400

Steel Dynamics announced two new management appointments. Read more ...

Energy Products Strengthen Quarter for Russel Metals

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:51:06 -0400

Russel Metals, Mississauga, Ontario, announced earnings of $22 million for the first quarter of 2013, down from $33 million a year ago but showing improvement from the previous quarter. Read more ...

Manufacturing Slowed in April but Maintained Positive Growth

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:36:13 -0400

The Institute of Supply Management Purchasing Managers Index, (PMI) registered 50.7 percent in April, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from March's reading of 51.3 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the fifth consecutive month, but at the lowest rate of the year. With the exception of August last year, the three month moving average of the index has been above the 50 thresh-hold every month since August 2009, (Fig 1). The New Orders Index increased in April by 0.9 percentage point to 52.3 percent, and the Production Index increased by 1.3 percentage points to 53.5 percent. The Employment Index registered 50.2 percent, a decrease of 4 percentage points compared to March's reading of 54.2 percent. The Prices Index registered 50 percent, decreasing 4.5 percentage points from March, indicating that overall raw materials prices remained unchanged from last month. On a three month moving average basis, all the major sub indices were down compared to three months through March and all except supplier deliveries were down year over year, (Table 1).

Comments from the panel indicate a range of strong/steady growth, to flat/declining volumes, depending upon the particular industry." Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 14 are reporting growth in April in the following order: Furniture & Related Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Paper Products; Machinery; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Transportation Equipment; and Computer & Electronic Products. The three industries reporting contraction in April are: Wood Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Chemical Products.

Explanation; The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® is published monthly by the Institute for Supply Management?, the first supply institute in the world. Founded in 1915, ISM exists to lead and serve the supply management profession and is a highly influential and respected association in the global marketplace. ISM's mission is to enhance the value and performance of procurement and supply chain management practitioners and their organizations worldwide. This report has been issued by the association since 1931, except for a four-year interruption during World War II. The report is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives nationwide. Membership of the Manufacturing Business Survey Committee is diversified by NAICS, based on each industry's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The PMI is a diffusion index. Diffusion indexes have the properties of leading indicators and are convenient summary measures showing the prevailing direction of change and the scope of change. A PMI? reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally declining. A PMI? in excess of 42.2 percent, over a period of time, indicates that the overall economy, or gross domestic product (GDP), is generally expanding; below 42.2 percent, it is generally declining. The distance from 50 percent or 42.2 percent is indicative of the strength of the expansion or decline. With some of the indicators within this report, ISM has indicated the departure point between expansion and decline of comparable government series, as determined by regression analysis.

Steel Market Update Flat Rolled Price Assessments

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:27:34 -0400

When reviewing our flat rolled price assessments it is important to note that our opinion is the range is more important than the average. Our index is nothing more than the average of our high and low. Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which is currently at “Lower” provides the trend we see in our price evaluations. This past week our range on base thickness hot rolled coil was Read more ...

USW Lake Erie Works Local Responds to US Steel "Spin Doctor"

Sun, 05 May 2013 16:47:01 -0400

One week ago today (Sunday) U.S. Steel Canada locked out the union workers associated with USW Local 8782 which represents the Lake Erie Works facility in Canada. Late last week U.S. Steel Canada spokesperson Trevor Harris provided a letter to two Canadian news organizations which were published. Steel Market Update published a blog post on Friday regarding the issues raised by USS Canada. Today we are publishing the union response Read more ...

U.S. Steel Not an “Evil Foreign Presence” In Canada

Fri, 03 May 2013 21:03:44 -0400

An “unfortunate circumstance” is how U.S. Steel CEO John Surma described the lock out of nearly 1000 employees at Lake Erie Works in his company conference call remarks. Read more ...

At A Glance: CME Group Virtual Steel Mill Volume and Open Interest – April 2013

Fri, 03 May 2013 19:37:30 -0400

Overall Volume and OI Trends
? Positive volume growth in ferrous complex with new market participants entering the market
? Pick up trend in iron ore futures ahead of their launch on CME Globex on 5/13/2013 Read more ...

Construction Unemployment Drops to 13.2 Percent

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:42:01 -0400

Residential Contractors Add Jobs at Robust Clip for the Month and Year While Nonresidential Employment Rises Relative to 2012 Level but Slips from March; Association Warns of Potential Future Worker Shortages Read more ...

Samuel, Son & Co. Acquires Wilkinson Steel

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:14:23 -0400

Samuel, Son & Co., located in Ontario, announced the acquisition of Vancouver-based Wilkinson Steel and Metals. Read more ...

Construction Employment Increased Annually In 152 Metro Areas

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:31:42 -0400

Construction employment levels are reported below by the Associated General Contractors of America:

Construction employment increased in Read more ...

AM Castle Reports Loss for 1Q but on Track for Restructuring

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:50:13 -0400

AM Castle reported a net loss of $10.6 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared to a net loss of 4.3 million in the prior year quarter. Read more ...

Steel Hedging and Selling to an Index - The Debate Continues

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:49:23 -0400

Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting discussions in various LinkedIn groups (ours is called Steel Market Update) regarding the practice of selling contracts to an index and the repudiation of the CRU-minus contract deals by ArcelorMittal, Nucor and Severstal who have vowed not to discount off CRU in future contract negotiations Read more ...

US Steel Locks Out Lake Erie Union Workers

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:01:38 -0400

The Lake Erie Works union workers were locked out of their jobs by U.S. Steel management at 9 AM Sunday morning. This is the second time USS has locked out USW Local 8782 since the company bought the former Stelco facilities in 2007. They have also locked out Lake Erie sister plant, Hamilton Works when its contract expired in 2010 Read more ...

U.S. Steel To Lock Out Employees

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:28:08 -0400

U.S. Steel has sent a letter of intent advising employees at Lake Erie Works that a lock out will take effect at 9:00 a.m. April 28, 2013. Read more ...

Lake Erie Workers Reject U.S. Steel Final Offer

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:23:18 -0400

Lake Erie union workers soundly rejected the final contract offer from U.S. Steel on Tuesday. With 92 percent of the membership turning out to vote, 70 percent voted against the package. Read more ...

ArcelorMittal Usibor Patent Case to be Reviewed in District Court

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:41:23 -0400

Chicago, April 22, 2013 – In defense of its patent rights, ArcelorMittal filed complaints before the District Court of Delaware on April 16 to demonstrate that AK Steel, Severstal North America (SNA) and SNA’s coating partner, Wheeling-Nisshin, have infringed upon its Usibor® aluminum silicon coated products patent (Usibor®-AS) by selling steel grades protected under the Usibor®-AS patent to automakers and their supply chains. Read more ...

Two New Supervisory Board Members at ThyssenKrupp AG

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:05:23 -0400

ThyssenKrupp AG announced on Monday the appointment of Carsten Spohr and Dr. Lothar Steinbach to the Supervisory Board. Read more ...

USS Letter to USW Local 8782 Regarding Their Final Contract Offer

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:25:21 -0400

The following is a letter received by SMU regarding U.S. Steel's Final Contract Offer to USW Local 8782: Read more ...

Comment on Union Negotiations with U.S. Steel from Our LinkedIn Group

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:46:37 -0400

Steel Market Update (SMU) has a LinkedIn steel group (also named Steel Market Update) and one of our members left the following comment to our ongoing discussion about the contract negotiations at US Steel Lake Erie Works and the potential for a steel strike at the flat rolled steel producing mill located in Canada Read more ...

US Steel Lake Erie Works Union Ordered to Vote on Company Contract Offer

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 05:15:59 -0400

The international headquarters of the United Steelworkers has ordered Lake Erie steelworkers in Local 8782 to vote on the final contract offered by U.S. Steel. The mandate came after the local union voted 796-4 not to put the company’s final offer to vote, opting for a strike instead Read more ...

CRU comment on recent U.S. Mill announcements to move away from discounted indexed-based deals

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:31:07 -0400

The following letter was received by Steel Market Update with an official CRU comment on U.S. Mill announcements to move away from discounted CRU indexed-based deals: Read more ...

USS Lake Erie Works Union Votes to Give 72-Hour Notice to US Steel

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:08:14 -0400

The United Steelworkers Union Local 8782 which represents the workers at the United States Steel (USS) Lake Erie Works steel mill in Canada, has voted to give their 72-hour notice of a potential strike. Below is the text of a notice posted on the union website dated today Read more ...

CRU & SMU Joint Statement

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:11:03 -0400

Steel Market Update and the CRU believe it is important for the steel industry to understand what the domestic mills are Read more ...

Steel Exports Drop In February

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:42:10 -0400

Steel exports dropped in February according to the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) report below:

"Falls Church, VA, April 18, 2013 – Steel exports declined 3.8 percent in February 2013 compared to January according to government data Read more ...

Severstal NA Announces New Flat Rolled Steel Pricing

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:11:15 -0400

Severstal NA has announced effective base prices on new spot flat rolled steel orders as of April 22, 2013. The base prices announced, if collected, would result in price increases of approximately $40-$50 per ton above our most recent price indices (the average of the SMU price range) Read more ...

Big River Steel Incentive Given Final Approval

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:28:50 -0400

Arkansas House legislators gave final approval to fund the $125 million incentive package offered to Big River Steel in Osceola, Ark. Read more ...

USS Lake Erie Works Union Contract Expires - Union Mulling Next Step

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:26:10 -0400

United Steelworkers Local 8782 which represents the workers at Lake Erie Works has been unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with U.S. Steel. Their contract expired at 12:01 AM this morning (Tuesday, April 16th). However, the two parties have a “protocol” in place whereby either side must provide a 72-hour notice if they intent to strike or lockout the union. The union has told their workers that the 72-hour protocol has not yet been started by either side Read more ...

Nucor-Yamato Steel Asking for Bond Assistance for Expansion

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:45:27 -0400

Now that Big River Steel is getting government financing to set up shop in Arkansas, Nucor-Yamoto Steel is asking Blytheville City Council for bond assistance for its $115 million steel mill expansion. Read more ...

Deadline Looms for US Steel Lake Erie Works

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:34:16 -0400

Written by: Sandy Williams

A strike or a lock-out is possible this week at U.S. Steel’s Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada. The contract between U.S. Steel and Local 8782 of the United Steel Workers is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. April 16. Read more ...

Metals USA to Become Part of Reliance at the End of Business Today

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:28:13 -0400

Steel service center, Metals USA, will become part of Reliance Steel & Aluminum at the close of business today (Friday, April 12, 2013). Metals USA has three primary sales groups - flat rolled, plate & structural (long products) and fabricated construction products Read more ...

Nucor Executive Vice President Ham Lott To Retire; Ray Napolitan To Be Promoted

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:38:22 -0400

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today that Executive Vice President of Fabricated Construction Products, Hamilton Lott, Jr., plans to retire on June 3, 2013 after more than 37 years of service with Nucor. Read more ...

Worthington Industries Acquires Palmer Manufacturing & Tank

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:21:27 -0400

Worthington Industries announced the acquisition of Palmer Manufacturing and Tank for $113.6 million. Kansas based Palmer manufactures steel and fiberglass cylinders for oil and gas, chemical processing, agricultural and industrial markets expanding Worthington’s product offering in the energy market. Read more ...

Steel 101 Workshop - Details Now Available

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:56:22 -0400

Final details have been completed and registration is open for our next Steel 101 workshop which will be held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We believe this is by far the best way to learn about the steel industry. Read more ...

Construction Employment Increases in 158 Out of 339 Metro Areas Between February 2012 &2013 But Immigration Deal, Public Spending Cuts Pose Risks

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:28:03 -0400

Pascagoula, Miss. and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas Are Top Gainers While Monroe, Mich. Had Largest Percentage Decline, Northern Virginia Lost the Most Jobs Read more ...

AIIS: the US Port System Needs Dredging and Maintenance-- Calls on Congress to Act

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:32:14 -0400

Falls Church, VA, April 5, 2013 – In welcoming Congress back from its Easter Recess, AIIS urges Congress to action on a pressing need to pass the Water Resources Development Act, with a particular focus on the provision that would require the full expenditure of funds collected under the Harbor Maintenance Fee for the purpose for which it has always been intended – dredging and maintenance of our blue and brown water ports. Read more ...

Construction Jobs Rise for Tenth Month in a Row to Three Year High

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:07:06 -0400

Construction industry employment climbed for the tenth consecutive month in March, as the sector added 18,000 jobs and surpassed 5.8 million employees for the first time since September 2009, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Read more ...

Big River Bond Approved by Legislature—Appropriation Vote Next

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:47:47 -0400

The enabling legislation for the $125 million bond incentive for Big River Steel was approved in a voice vote in the Arkansas House Committee Tuesday and by the Senate in 26-6 vote later in the day. Read more ...

ArcelorMittal appoints new leaders for two long carbon facilities

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:19:24 -0400

ArcelorMittal announces the recent appointment of Raymond Hawkins to General Manager, ArcelorMittal LaPlace, a mini-mill operation in LaPlace, La. that produces long steel products and employs approximately 410, and Dan Tunacik to General Manager, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor Long Carbon, a mini-mill operation in East Chicago, Ind. that produces long steel products and employs approximately 300. Read more ...

ArcelorMittal appoints Patrick Parker to Vice President, Labor Relations for ArcelorMittal USA

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:16:49 -0400

ArcelorMittal announces the recent appointment of Pat Parker to Vice President, Labor Relations, ArcelorMittal USA. Read more ...

Association of Steel Distributors Names New Executive Director

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:51:41 -0400

CHICAGO, IL — At its recent board meeting in Palm Desert, Calif., the Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) recently approved Marc Saracco as its incoming executive director. Saracco, who has more than seven years of association management experience across various industries, will succeed Ron Pietrzak, who has served in this role for the past 21 years Read more ...

Construction Spending Rebounds in February With Private, Public Gains

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:32:08 -0400

Construction spending rebounded in February with gains from depressed January levels in residential, private nonresidential and public investment, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Read more ...

Hot Rolled Futures: Trading Lower

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:45:23 -0400

Written by: Andre Marshall, Crunchrisk LLC

Financial Markets:

Today we took out the S+P high from 2007 at 1572, this after the Dow high was felled a couple weeks back. It is really miraculous Read more ...

Steel Service Center Debates Logic of Any New Flat Rolled Price Increases

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:52:16 -0400

Steel Market Update (SMU) received an email this morning from a flat rolled steel service center with the comment that next Monday would be a good day for the domestic steel flat rolled steel mills to raise prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels. Earlier this week, another steel distributor wrote Steel Market Update about the subject of steel price increases and how they are being received by the market Read more ...

Joint Venture for NSSMC and BlueScope Steel

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:36:49 -0400

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation announced it has completed the equity investment with BlueScope Steel to move forward a coated products joint venture in ASEAN and the U.S. Read more ...

Steel Dynamics Announces Sales Management Changes

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:53:36 -0400

Steel Dynamics has announced several changes in its sales management team. Read more ...

New Home Sales in February Down but Prices Up

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:03:15 -0400

New home sales in February dropped 4.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 411,000 from January’s high of 431,000 according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Read more ...

AK Steel Wins Patent Infringement Case

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:59:34 -0400

The battle between AK Steel and ArcelorMittal over patent infringement is finished. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 20 refused a re-hearing of ArcelorMittal’s petition, Read more ...

Steel Market Update Growth Continues

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:17:11 -0400

I remember back to August 2008 when I first started selling memberships to the Steel Market Update newsletter – one of my good steel customers from my Winner Steel and trading company days wondered out loud when he told me he didn’t know what I would be writing about in 30 days (in other words he thought I would run out of things to write about). It has been almost a full five years since SMU has been existence and we still have plenty to write about.

More importantly to both me and our readers is we have expanded the company so we have more people to research, write, educate and market our products. Back in 2008 the company was 100 percent written by myself. As you look at Steel Market Update now you will notice that is no longer the case Read more ...

Steel Market Update Upcoming Events, Steel Workshops, Educational Programs

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:45:42 -0400

Our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Canada in early June. We have just received confirmation from ArcelorMittal Dofasco that our group is welcome to tour their fully integrated steel mill. Our workshop will be headquartered at a local Hamilton, Ontario, Canada hotel. We will advise the exact dates in early June for the two day workshop once the mill has advised us of their maintenance schedule. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is located across the border from Buffalo, New York. U.S. citizens will need to bring your passports to cross into Canada.

Our Steel 101 workshop is meant for those new to the industry (both long & flat products), those wishing to gain a better understanding as to how steel is produced and sold, as well as experienced steel people looking for a refresher course. We cover the manufacture of both long and flat products and will tour a fully integrated flat rolled mill as part of our program. You can contact our office for more details: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com and we should have details and the exact date of the program on our website by the end of next week.

We still have openings in our next Managing Price Risk workshop which will be held in New York City on April 26th. Details can be found on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com or you can contact our office: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com

The Managing Price Risk workshop is meant for those interested in learning how to use hot rolled and ferrous scrap futures as a way to hedge price risk or provide an avenue to hold prices over and extended period of time. We also discuss options and other techniques of managing risk within the steel industry. Inquiries about the program can be made through our office at: Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Our Steel Market Update newsletter publishes a weekly review of the Hot Rolled Coil Futures (HRC), #1 Busheling scrap futures (BUS) as well as iron ore and Billet futures trading. You can register for a free trial to our newsletter on our website and there is a link just below this blog post you can click to go to our registration page.

Construction Employment Increased In 145 Metro Areas

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:07:15 -0400

The following is the the January report on construction employment by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Construction employment increased in 145 out of 339 metropolitan areas between January 2012 and January 2013, Read more ...

ArcelorMittal High Strength Steel Patent Confirmed

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:27:49 -0400

On March 20, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit left in place its December 2012 decision confirming that ArcelorMittal’s pioneer patent (US Patent No. 6,296,805) broadly covers aluminum pre-coated hot-rolled or cold-rolled steel for hot stamping, a product sold worldwide as Usibor®. Read more ...

NSSMC Closing Blast Furnace in Streamlining Effort

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:37:49 -0400

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp will close the Kimitsu No. 3 blast furnace at the end of FY2015, close a continuous caster and shift to a one BOF operation by FY 2016 as part of a mid-term management plan that includes streamlining operations at all of its steelworks over the next three years. Read more ...

Steel Market Update Receives Praise from Steel Industry

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:13:47 -0400

Steel Market Update appreciates all the kind comments we have been receiving over the past few weeks. It appears the addition of Sandy Williams and Peter Wright to our newsletter staff are net positives for Steel Market Update and I am pleased with the work both of them are doing for SMU Read more ...

Construction Materials Prices Jump In February, Hurting Contractors Still Struggling To Recover

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:22:37 -0400

Here is the latest report from the Associated General Contractors of America on construction materials pricing:

Prices for construction materials jumped in February, driven by extreme increases in items used in new housing and nonresidential building renovations, Read more ...

Ulrich Lehner to Chair ThyssenKrupp Supervisory Board

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:35:38 -0400

Dr. Ulrich Lehner will be elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp Ag at a special meeting on March 19. Read more ...

Gerhard Cromme Resigning from ThyssenKrupp

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:15:16 -0400

Dr. Gerhard Cromme is resigning as Chairman of the ThyssenKrupp Supervisory Board effective March 31. Read more ...

Construction Industry Adds 48,000 Jobs In February

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:26:39 -0400

The following is the latest report by the Associated General Contractors of America:

The construction industry added 48,000 jobs in February, the ninth consecutive month of job growth for the sector, as more people are working in construction than at any point in the last three and a half years, Read more ...

SMU Newbie - Day 2: Steel 101 Marketing Fundamentals

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:53:57 -0400

Written by: Sandy Williams

Day one of the SMU Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop ended by rubbing shoulders with our mill hosts at a cocktail party at our hotel. This was my first opportunity to speak to the General Manager of Read more ...

Hot Rolled Futures- Here We Go Again…

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:50:27 -0400

Written by: Bradley Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals

Well it certainly is beginning to feel like déjà vu all over again. Last week’s price hike announcements come during the same last week of Read more ...

SMU Steel Newbie: Fire and Brimstone—The Mill Tour

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:40:31 -0400

Written by: Sandy Williams

Billowing flames, sparks careening upward like thousands of fireflies, the brilliant blue-white glow of the arc, and heat—intense heat. It is hard to adequately describe the power emanating from the electric arc furnace as one stares at it enthralled. Our Steel 101 class felt that power up close and it was an experience to remember.

The tour of the Severstal Columbus mini-mill was definitely the highlight of the workshop. As our bus approached the facility we saw hundreds of steel coils cooling outside in the yard. After meeting our guides and dressing in blue jackets, helmets, safety glasses and earplugs, we broke into two groups to begin our foray into the mill.

The interior of the mill was huge! We walked for nearly three hours, climbing stairs to multiple levels, following the steel from its great melt in the furnace through its journey by huge ladles to the tundish where molten steel was poured into a mold and cooled while moving, then in a continuous process by conveyor to roughing stands, finishing stands and its final ejection as hot coiled rolls onto robotic carts to be whisked away. Then we followed the cold rolled line as it moved its way to the hot dipped coating operation. This ribbon of steel seemed to extend endlessly through the mill until we caught our last sight of it coming out of a zinc bath, rising toward the ceiling.

Each of the mill operations are run by banks of computers located in rooms high above the main floor operated by one or two technicians who may follow an entire line through its processing. Steel making is a highly automated process so we saw very few workers on the floor itself. Robotic cranes and overhead conveyances moved objects, while sirens blared out warnings (the earplugs were a necessity not an accessory). To me it looked gloriously sci-fi.

This was so different from how I envisioned my father’s time as a steelworker in 1950 through 1980. As a child, I thought my dad worked in a subdivision of Hell in downtown Cleveland. It was very dirty--dirty skies, dirty windows, dirty cars in the parking lots and, of course, those ever burning smoke stacks and fires.

Severstal Columbus is nothing like that. The air is clean, the facilities are clean, and efficiency and safety are the norm. Our guides on the tour were terrific--knowledgeable and patient when answering our questions.

As day one drew to a close, we rode back to the hotel exhausted but excited by what we had seen. I was now able to take what we had learned earlier in the day in the classroom and put together a few more pieces of the puzzle of steelmaking.

Next time: Day Two—Marketing Fundamentals

John Nolan to Head Steel Dynamics’ New Product Development Initiative

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:00:26 -0400

FORT WAYNE, Ind., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Steel Dynamics, Inc. [STLD] today announced that John Nolan, Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Structural and Rail Division, has been appointed to the newly created corporate level position of Vice President - Product Development. Read more ...

Hot Rolled Futures Trading Takes Off This Past Week

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:25:12 -0400

After 11 years flogging steel derivatives I can finally make the statement “HR matters”. I think it has mattered form some time, but Hot Rolled futures made a statement on Tuesday, February 26th when they traded 50K short tons in one day Read more ...

Steel: From the Eyes of the Newbie

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:28:01 -0400

Written by: Sandy Williams

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”—Theodore Roosevelt.

When I was asked to write for SMU I did exactly what Teddy suggested and every day since I’ve been learning how. With a background in the “soft” industry of Read more ...

Construction Spending Lower in January but Still Higher than Year-Ago Levels

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:07:19 -0400

Construction spending snapped a nine-month string of monthly gains with a sharp decline in January but still rose from year-ago levels, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America Read more ...

New Flat Rolled Price Announcements Take Base Prices Back to January 21st Levels

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:19:09 -0400

I have been involved in the flat rolled steel industry since 1977. I cannot recall another time during those 36 years in the business when the domestic steel mills have announced two significant price increases within six weeks of one another – with the target minimum base price being exactly the same Read more ...

AK Steel 2nd Mill to Announce Flat Rolled Price Increase

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:17:51 -0400

AK Steel has just announced a price increase. See below for the full letter from the company press release:

U.S. Steel Announces New $50 per Ton Price Increase

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:21:42 -0400

Steel Market Update (SMU) started receiving calls by late Tuesday afternoon advising us to prepare for a new round of price increase announcements. This afternoon, Read more ...

Managing Price Risk Workshop Now Open For Registration

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:39:06 -0400

Our next Managing Price Risk workshop – which is for active buyers and sellers of steel and/or ferrous scrap – has been confirmed for New York City on April 26, 2013 at the NYMEX building (CME Group) across from Read more ...

Big River Steel Deal Update

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 20:09:16 -0400

The $1.25 million incentive proposal for Big River Steel has been delivered to Arkansas legislators. The House and Senate have until March 13 to review the project funding being offered to Big River under Amendment 82. Read more ...

U. S. Steel Names Burt Caldwell General Manager - Sales

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:59:51 -0400

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced that Burt Caldwell has been named general manager – Sales for its North American flat-rolled sales team based in Chicago, effective March 1. Read more ...

Construction Materials Prices Soar In January

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:16:55 -0400

Here is the latest report on construction conditions and pricing by the Associated General Contractors of America:

Prices for construction materials Read more ...

U.S. Steel workers going to Supreme Court Over Clothes

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:17:17 -0400

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether U.S. Steel union workers can be compensated for time spent changing clothes for their jobs. Read more ...

ArcelorMittal to Suspend EU Closures Through June

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:13:10 -0400

ArcelorMittal CEO Lashmi Mittal agreed to hold off on European job cuts and plant closures through June 2013. Read more ...

Flat Rolled Steel Pricing is Hard Work and it Should Be Hard Work

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:08:42 -0400

Written by: John Packard

Steel Market Update (SMU) ran a number of articles concerning the tepid support service centers were giving spot flat rolled steel price increases into the manufacturing segment of the industry. SMU surveys the industry twice per month and our most recent steel survey was capturing a very modest push by service centers to take their Read more ...

HRC Futures Breaks the Hearts of the Bulls as Prices Experience a Break ‘down’

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:56:03 -0400

Written by: Brad Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals

It appears that the market finally capitulated this week with the physical market taking a turn south as recent price hikes seem to have failed. After a couple of weeks with consumers, distributors, producers of coils eyeing Read more ...

Steel Market Update Publisher in LinkedIn Top 1% Most Viewed Profiles

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:19:37 -0400

John Packard, Publisher and Owner of Steel Market Update, has one of the top 1% most viewed LinkedIn profiles for 2012. Read more ...

Accidents Impact Severstal Coal Mine and ArcelorMittal South African Steel Mill

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:10:57 -0400

A blast at the Vorkutinskaya coal mine, owned by Russian steelmaker Severstal, killed 18 people on Monday and left nine missing. Read more ...

Hot Rolled & Iron Ore Futures: Tale of Two Cities

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:24:55 -0400

Written by: Andre Marshall, Crunchrisk LLC

Financial Markets:

Big news today was that the Euro cratered on the back of Draghi’s comments about the Euro from, in USD terms, $1.357 to $1.34. Unless, of course, you think that ArcelorMittal losing $3.99 billion in the Quarter was Read more ...

Reliance Steel & Aluminum to Acquire Metals USA

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:02:48 -0400

Reliance Steel & Aluminum announced this morning a definitive merger agreement whereby Reliance will acquire all outstanding shares of Metals USA Holdings Corporation for approximately $1.2 billion. This will make Reliance the largest service center chain in North America with assets over $6.5 billion and annual sales in excess of $10.0 billion Read more ...

Pat Mullarkey, New Plant Manager at Fairfield Tubular Operations

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:50:54 -0400

U.S. Steel announced today that Patrick J. Mullarkey has been named the new plant manager of Fairfield Tubular Operations in Birmingham, Ala. Mullarkey will succeed Dennis Quirk who has retired following 36 years of service. Read more ...

Construction Industry Finally Improving - Employment Hits Three-Year High

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:06:02 -0400

The Associated General Contractors of America report positive results for the construction industry below:

"Revised government data issued today show the construction industry is contributing Read more ...

CRU Press Release

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:20:22 -0400

One week ago, ArcelorMittal circulated their price increase announcement and in their internal memo the company raised the issue of, “The market manipulation and discounting of the CRU has had a dampening effect on industry spot Read more ...

Carpenter Technology and USS Join in “Lightweighting” Project

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:00:04 -0400

Carpenter Technology announced Wednesday it will be working with United Steel Corporation on the development of new “lightweighting” steel for automotive applications. Read more ...

California Steel Industries Reorganizes Structure

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:03:18 -0400

California Steel Industries announced the resignation of Mr. Al Plummer, Manager of the Southern Service Center and OEM, after 28 years of service with the company. Read more ...

Renco Group Held Responsible For RG Steel's Pension Plans

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:34:10 -0400

Renco Group had a controlling interest in RG Steel, which made it responsible for two pension plans for about 1,350 people. Read more ...

Construction Employment Increased In 139 Metro Areas

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:31:45 -0400

The Associated General Contractors of America released the following report on construction employment:

Construction employment increased in 139 out of 337 metropolitan areas between December 2011 and December 2012, Read more ...

Hot Rolled Futures- Spot Down Futures Up

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:22:14 -0400

Written by: Andre Marshall, Crunchrisk

Financial Markets

The last of the obstacles to an improving economy, the debt ceiling and the spending cuts etc seem to be rolling over. The Republicans have cleverly put in a temporary debt ceiling increase covering us until May which Read more ...

ArcelorMittal Liege Closing 6 Lines and a Coke Plant

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:20:22 -0400

ArcelorMittal is permanently closing six finishing lines and a coke plant at its Liege facility in Belgium. A seventh line will be maintained only as a repairing line. Read more ...

NW Australian Storm Shuts Ports

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:42:11 -0400

A tropical storm shut down ports in Australia on Tuesday stopping shipment of nearly half of the world’s iron ore trade. Port Hedland, Dampier and Cape Lambert shut down operations as vessels moved out to sea and away from the area. Read more ...

AK Steel Announces $40 Price Hike on Flat Rolled Steel

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:34:12 -0400

On Monday, January 23rd, AK Steel announced a price increase on all flat rolled steel products of $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The price increase is for “spot” orders only and is “effective immediately” according to the press release issued by the company Read more ...

RG Steel Creditors Hope to Sue Renco Group Founder for $238 million

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:19:08 -0400

Creditors of bankrupt RG Steel are seeking court permission to sue Renco Group founder and billionaire Ira Rennert for deliberately delaying the bankruptcy filing of RG Steel in order to protect his own financial interests.

Construction Employment Expanded In December

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:44:30 -0400

Here's the latest construction report put out by the Associated General Contractors of America

Construction employment expanded in two-thirds of all states in December and in half the nation last year as the industry showed signs of emerging from a six-year Read more ...