Steel Products Prices North America
New Taconite Plant Slated for Minnesota
Written by Sandy Williams
April 13, 2020
While other iron ore mining operations are temporarily shutting down due to the impact of the coronavirus on iron ore demand, Prairie River Minerals plans to start construction this month on a multimillion dollar ore processing plant in Minnesota.
Prairie River bought the assets of bankrupt Magnetation in Coleraine and Keewatin for $1.9 million in 2019. PRM plans to process leftover iron ore waste tailings at its new demonstration plant at the Jessie Loadout facility. Construction is expected to be completed during fall of 2020.
The new company will be led by CEO Larry Sutherland, who recently retired as general manager of Minnesota Ore Operations at U.S. Steel. “I am excited to join the PRM team and help develop this innovative business utilizing ore stockpiled from the early days of MN iron mining,” said Sutherland. “We’ll bring good paying union jobs to this region, be environmentally friendly, and benefit our local communities and the State of Minnesota.”
Technical director will be Johann Grobler, the developer of the Ultra-High Dense Medium Separation technology.
Magnetation entered bankruptcy in May 2015 and was sold to ERP Iron Ore, which failed to develop the property as planned. ERP, led by Tom Clarke, filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]