Steel Mills
Stelco: Unplanned Outages Cut Q4 Shipments, Q1 Impact Likely
Written by David Schollaert
January 6, 2022
Stelco Holdings Inc. said its fourth-quarter steel shipments were negatively impacted by production challenges and unplanned outages.
The Hamilton, Ontario-based steelmaker shipped roughly 625,000 net tons of steel in the fourth quarter of 2021, below prior guidance of 675,000 to 680,000 net tons.
Shipments in the fourth quarter were lower than expected due to various production challenges, including unplanned outages on its hot strip mill, logistics hurdles, and delays at the end of Q4 brought on by the Omicron variant, the company said.
The negative news didn’t stop there for Stelco. The Canadian steelmaker also provided its first quarter 2022 guidance – and indicated that steel shipments would be similar to or below fourth-quarter totals.
Stelco said the lower guidance for Q1 is a result of planned outages that have been pulled forward in response to its fourth-quarter challenges. Weaker guidance also stems from declining steel prices, weaker demand, and limited labor availability due to increased COVID disruptions, the company said.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Mills
U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.
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.