Steel Mills
BlueScope Closes $240M MetalX Deal as Prime Scrap Rush Continues
Written by Michael Cowden
December 22, 2021
BlueScope Steel has closed its $240 million deal for ferrous scrap recycler MetalX.
With the transaction complete, MetalX will operate under the name BlueScope Recycling and Materials.
BlueScope announced the deal in early November and closed it on Dec. 17, according to a statement released earlier this week.
MetalX is the leading scrap supplier to North Star BlueScope, an electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Delta, Ohio. It processes both prime and obsolete scrap.
BlueScope’s acquisition of the company is part of a trend of mills buying scrap companies to secure what some fear could be increasingly scarce prime scrap – something an Evraz North America executive described on a recent SMU Community Chat as “a rush to acquire dots on the map.”
Two recent examples: BlueScope competitor Cleveland-Cliffs last month announced a $775 million acquisition of Detroit-based Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT). And Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma has formed a joint venture with Triple M to source prime scrap.
Steel Market Update, meanwhile, continues to hear that other big deals involving steel mills and related scrap suppliers are in the works, with big announcements potentially coming as soon as early January.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
SDI concerned with potential Brazil pig iron tariffs
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives called a 50% tariff on Brazilian pig iron “concerning,” but think tariffs will be a “mainstay” of trade agreements going forward.
SDI earnings slip in Q2 as trade volatility hits customer orders
SDI profits slipped in second quarter amid trade policy volatility.
Cliffs puts ‘for sale’ signs up after another big quarterly loss
Cleveland-Cliffs lost more than $400 million for the third consecutive quarter but predicted results would improve in the second half of the year. And shares of the Cleveland-based steelmaker surged after company executives said during its Q2 earnings call on Monday that they could make billions by courting foreign investors or selling assets.
Algoma sees narrower Q2 loss but feels tariff sting
Algoma Steel expects a narrower sequential loss in the second quarter, but the company continues to be impacted by the US tariff situation.
Nippon plans to double steel output at USS operations: Report
Now that it has acquired U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel is planning a significant expansion of its US operations, including the construction of a new mill and more than doubling its steel output.