Steel Mills
Schnitzer Restarts Cascade, Buys Columbus Recycling
Written by Michael Cowden
August 17, 2021
Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. has resumed production at its Cascade Steel Rolling Mills in McMinnville, Ore., following a fire in late May that damaged the facility’s melt shop.
The Portland, Ore.-based recycler, which also owns the Oregon mill, said the facility was accepting orders after restarting operations several weeks earlier than expected.
“I am proud of our team’s exceptional efforts to bring the mill back into production ahead of schedule,” Schnitzer Chairman and CEO Tamara Lundgren said in a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Initial expectations were that Cascade might not resume operations until late August or early September.
Cascade, an electric arc furnace (EAF) mill, makes rebar, coiled rebar, hot-rolled bar and wire rod. It is among the relatively few melt shops in the western U.S. and western Canada.
Schnitzer expects that Cascade will make a “limited number” of sales before the company’s fiscal year closes at the end of August.
Separately, Schnitzer announced that it has agreed to buy Columbus Recycling and its eight operating facilities across the Southeast – notably in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The deal for the ferrous and nonferrous scrap recycler is expected to close during the first quarter of Schnitzer’s 2022 fiscal year – or September-November 2021 in terms of the calendar year – subject to regulatory approvals.
Columbus Recycling buys and processes scrap from industrial manufacturers, from smaller local scrap companies as well as from individual collectors. It then processes and resells that material to foundries and steel mills in the region.
Schnitzer expects the acquisition of Columbus – which sold approximately 300,000 tons of ferrous scrap in the 12 months ended May 2021 – to complement its nine existing facilities in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.
And an expanded footprint in the Southeast makes sense given the big increase in EAF steelmaking that the region is expected to see in the years ahead.
Just a few examples: Nucor is expanding its EAF flat-rolled steel mill in Ghent, Ky., and building a new EAF plate mill in Brandenburg, Ky. AM/NS Calvert, meanwhile, is adding a new EAF to its operations in Alabama, according to SMU’s new flat-rolled steel capacity table.
The deal also has a compelling logic when it comes to decarbonization efforts.
“While a variety of solutions will be required as industries, communities, and governments actively pursue carbon reduction, the increased use of recycled metals is one path that is immediately achievable,” Lundgren said.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.
Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.
AISI: Raw steel production ticks back down
US raw steel output declined last week after increasing the week prior, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Output has see-sawed from week to week since mid-August. Still, it has remained historically strong over the past four months and has held near multi-year highs since June. Domestic mills […]