Product
November 1, 2022
Written by Laura Miller
Arkansas has become a hub for steel production in the southern US, and it will soon be home to another steel mill.
Hybar, a newly formed company led by steel industry veteran David Stickler, announced it will build a $500 million greenfield minimill to produce rebar in northeast Arkansas just outside of Osceola.
Steel production is set to return to California next year. Pacific Steel Group broke ground on its Mojave Micro Mill in Kern County, just outside Los Angeles, earlier this year. It marked what California Governor Gavin Newsom recently touted as the first steel mill to break ground in the state in more than 50 years. The plant is scheduled to begin commissioning in the first quarter of 2027, and the project is expected to create ~700 jobs. Before Pacific Steel, the last mill to break ground in California was the Kaiser Steel plant in Fontana, 50 miles outside of Hollywood. The plant was built to supply the World War II effort and began operating in 1942. It eventually shut down in 1983. Today, the site is home to California Steel Industries (CSI), a joint venture between Nucor and JFE Steel. CSI is a reroller and does not melt its own steel.
GrafTech International continues to expect modest growth in graphite electrode demand for the full year of 2026. The company reaffirmed its expectation of a 5-10% year-over-year increase in graphite electrode sales volume as it seeks to gain market share. “Overall, we continue to see improving trends across several of our key regions,” CEO Tim Flanagan said on a conference call Friday to discuss its third quarter results.
Reliance Inc. is keeping a close eye on inventory as extended lead times, elevated prices, and tight material availability complicate purchasing decisions. Executives at the Phoenix-based service center said on Thursday's third-quarter earnings call that inventory levels were appropriate. The company is reducing excess inventory and focusing on inventory turns. Chief Financial Officer Arthur Ajemyan said inventory turns improved 10% year over year.
The latest tally of active drilling rigs held steady in the US for a third straight week, while activity rose in Canada this week, according to oil and gas rig count data published by Baker Hughes. The US rig count remained unchanged at 603 rigs this week, maintaining a 17-month high. Compared to this time last year, there are 53 more rigs in operation today. Canada’s count rose by three to 220 rigs this week, recovering after a short-lived easing the prior week. Activity is up compared to the same week of 2025, with 21 more rigs operating today.
"Now, the problem is no longer the price. The problem is having access to steel." That would have made a good lead. But I can’t take credit for it. Those (very quotable) words are from Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves during the steelmaker’s quarterly earnings conference call on Monday. For a while, I thought the shortages we'd been hearing about might be mostly a problem for small- and mid-sized buyers. But we’re seeing even some of the biggest steel buyers talking openly about supply problems.