Product
July 8, 2020
Written by Brett Linton
The Aug. 1 deadline to submit nominations for the 2nd annual SMU NexGen Leadership Award is just three weeks away. The award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association, is designed to recognize and celebrate the excellence of emerging leaders within the greater steel community.
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Stelco is not for sale, but he might sell it after operating the company for a period. He said he had come to understand that he was unwelcome in Canada. Separately, in a statement to SMU on Wednesday, Goncalves said he would consider a sale only after Stelco records one year of higher production and brings back all laid-off workers. He clarified it was 175 workers, not 500. He also said he would speak with no potential buyers “real or imaginary” now or during the next calendar year.
The busy fall maintenance season isn’t over yet. Mill outages have rolled along since September, squeezing an already tight sheet market heading into November and beyond. Another round of scheduled maintenance is approaching, with outages still ahead at North Star BlueScope, ArcelorMittal Calvert, and Nucor Berkeley. Much of the fall maintenance calendar is now in the rearview mirror. September and October outages included U.S. Steel’s Gary Works; Nucor’s Hickman, Decatur, Gallatin and Crawfordsville operations; Steel Dynamics’ Sinton and Columbus mills; Cleveland-Cliffs’ Dearborn hot strip mill; NLMK Portage; and Big River Steel Works.
SSAB Americas delivered slightly lower shipments and operating results in the third quarter of 2026 due to a planned maintenance outage. Still, the company saw strong demand in key US end markets, specifically in heavy industrial segments. The Swedish steelmaker’s Americas division shipped 446,000 metric tons (mt) in Q3’26, down from 473,000 mt in the previous quarter but up from 440,000 mt in Q3’25, according to its 2026 third quarter report. SSAB President and CEO Johnny Sjöström described stable shipments vs. year-ago results. On an earnings conference call, he highlighted strong underlying demand and higher prices, “up higher than we guided for, by roughly 8%.” Results came in despite maintenance-related volume fluctuations related to a planned outage at the company’s mill in Montpelier, Iowa, during the quarter.
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau’s North American operations posted higher profits in the third quarter as shipments increased. The company posted adjusted EBITDA of 2,912 million reais (USD$567 million) in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 for its North American operations, up 60% from 1,820 million reais from a year earlier. Net sales rose 14% to 10,512 million reais in the same comparison.
SunCoke Energy’s third-quarter revenue edged down to $485.9 million. Lower blast coke sales volumes and lower coal-price pass-throughs on long-term, take-or-pay agreements weighed on revenue. Higher terminals handling volumes and one additional month of Phoenix Global results partly offset the declines. Net income attributable to SunCoke was $21.8 million, compared with $22.2 million a year earlier. The Lisle, Ill.-based company expects 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA to modestly exceed the top of its $250 million to $265 million guidance range. Third-quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose $17.8 million year over year (y/y) to $76.9 million.