Steel Mills

Strike and Supply Shortage Hurts NLMK USA
Written by Sandy Williams
January 23, 2021
NLMK USA turned in a dismal quarter after cutting production in response to a months-long strike at the Pennsylvania mill and a dearth of duty-free slabs from the import market.
Year-over-year, quarterly sales plummeted 22 percent to 370,000 metric tons and total sales for 2020 plunged 27 percent to 1.6 million MT, the company reported.
NLMK Group production was relatively flat in the fourth quarter of 2020, up just 1 percent to 3.9 million MT from Q3. Sales dipped 5.0 percent to 4.2 million MT due to lower slab sales, higher inventories and lower sales of long products. Domestic sales fell 7 percent quarter-over-quarter and 10 percent for the year. “Home” market sales dropped 14 percent from the third quarter and 21 percent year-over-year.
Full-year metrics showed steel output for NLMK up 1 percent to 15.8 million MT. Sales grew 3 percent year-over-year due to an almost 300 percent increase in pig iron sales during the blast furnace overhaul at NLMK Lipetsk. Home market sales fell 6 percent, primarily due to lower shipments in the U.S and for long product sales in Russia. Export sales rose 17 percent on higher exports of pig iron and billet.
Prices for iron ore reached a decade peak, up 12 percent from Q3 and 48 percent year-over-year, driven by high steel output in China and economic recovery in other key regions, said NLMK in its trading update. Scrap prices in the U.S. and EU jumped 21 percent from the third quarter, driven by higher rolled steel prices and strong demand.
NLMK Group will release full financial results for Q4 and FY 2020 on Feb. 21.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

Hot-rolled coil market remains slow, market participants say
Hot rolled spot market participants reported another week of moderate demand and ample supply, with no strong signs that conditions will change next week.

CRU: Blackout knocks out ArcelorMittal mill ‘for months’
Truchas works in Lazaro Cadenas, Michoacan, western Mexico. Repairs may take up to six months.

Nippon Steel posts quarterly loss on cost to buy U.S. Steel
Nippon Steel earnings take hit from buy of U.S. Steel.

Atlas completes Evraz NA deal, renames firm, and hires former USS exec as CEO
Atlas Holdings has completed its acquisition of Evraz North America (Evraz NA) and its subsidiaries.

ArcelorMittal: As tariffs slow global growth, Calvert could be a bright spot
ArcelorMittal expects less demand growth across most of the markets it operates in, including the US, because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But the Luxembourg-based steelmaker also thinks it stands to benefit from an increasingly regionalized world thanks to investments like the new EAF at its mill in Calvert, Ala.