Steel Mills

Kloeckner Metals Margins Hit by Price Declines
Written by Sandy Williams
May 7, 2015
Klöckner & Co SE EBITDA was heavily impacted by the sharp price declines in the U.S. EBITDA of €10 million ($11.2 million) was reported down from €45 million ($50.7 million) in Q1 2014
Shipments for Kloeckner Metals (the Americas segment) were up 0.6 percent y/y to 682,000 tonnes (751,763 tons). US shipments were up by 1.7 percent.
Sales rose 20.8 percent y/y to €672 million ($757 million). Gross margins at Kloeckner Metals were impacted by declining steel prices, slipping 2.8 percentage points to 14.2 percent. EBITDA margin was down 2.7 percentage points to 1.0 percent. EBITDA fell 66.1 percent from €21 million ($23.7 million) in Q1 2014 to just €7 million ($7.9 million) in Q1 2015.
In the business outlook for 2015, real steel demand is expected to rise 1-2 percent in the U.S. with growth in construction, manufacturing, and automotive.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.

CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.

USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”

Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.

Algoma swings to loss on ‘market challenges’ and ‘tariff uncertainties’
Canada’s Algoma Steel swung to a loss in the first quarter amid "market challenges," and the company now expects first steel production from its first EAF in the second quarter.