• Skip to main content

    Market Segment

    Vale proposes iron ore briquette plant for US Gulf Coast

    Written by Laura Miller


    Rio de Janeiro-based metals and mining conglomerate Vale could potentially build a new plant for the production of iron ore briquettes in the US.

    Vale’s plant proposal is one of six iron and steel projects chosen this week to move forward with award negotiations by the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of its Industrial Demonstrations Program. The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are providing the program’s grant monies – in excess of $6 billion – to drive decarbonization across American industry.

    Laura Miller

    Read more from Laura Miller

    Latest in Market Segment

    Nucor lands GM platform for exposed automotive sheet

    Nucor has been awarded an entire General Motors platform for exposed automotive sheet, Chair and CEO Leon Topalian said on a call Tuesday discussing the company’s third-quarter earnings. Topalian described the award as a breakthrough for Nucor in a product area he said integrated steelmakers had long dominated. Nucor plans to shift related process engineering and quality control work to its new West Virginia sheet mill as the facility ramps up, Topalian said. He said the mill would be capable of producing high-end automotive steel. Noah Hanners, executive VP of sheet products, said West Virginia automotive tons would begin customer qualifications in 2028.

    Nucor Q3’26 profit doubles on higher steel prices, sales volumes

    Nucor's net earnings more than doubled in the third quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year on higher steel prices and sales volumes. The strong showing was supported by "robust demand across key end markets," company Chair and CEO Leon Topalian said in a statement released with Q3'26 earnings data after the close of markets on Monday. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker reported net earnings of $1.32 billion in Q3'26, more than double earnings of $607 million in Q3'25 on sales that rose 32% to $11.25 billion in the same comparison.

    US steel output falls 5.1% to lowest level since January: AISI

    Domestic raw steel production fell last week, dropping to the lowest output since January, according to the latest American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) figures. The seesaw pattern continued for US production this past week, maintaining a trend seen for the past few months. Fluctuations have been so significant that in just the past two months, output has hit both a six-year high and a six-month low. And despite the week-to-week variations, output has mostly trended lower. Still, despite that overall decline, output to date in 2026 remains strong compared with recent years. AISI estimated total US raw steel mill output to be 1,774,000 short tons (st) in the week ending Oct. 24 (Figure 1). Production was 96,000 st (5.1%) below the prior week, driven by cuts in two of the five regions tracked by AISI.

    Worthington Steel hits stumbling block in Kloeckner transfer agreement

    Worthington Steel said it did not receive sufficient approval from shareholders of German service center Kloeckner & Co. for a proposed domination and profit and loss transfer agreement (DPLTA). Under German law, a DPLTA gives a parent company the right to issue binding instructions to the management of a subsidiary. Kloeckner held an extraordinary general meeting on Friday, Oct. 23, in Dusseldorf, during which a shareholder vote on the DPLTA took place. At least 75% of the capital represented at the meeting had to vote in favor of the DPLTA for the measure to pass.

    Higher N. American spreads lift BlueScope’s outlook

    Australia’s BlueScope has raised its earnings outlook for the first half of fiscal 2027, citing stronger-than-anticipated performance at its North Star BlueScope mill in Ohio and improved results across several other businesses. The Melbourne-based company said in earnings guidance on Monday that it expects its North American businesses to deliver earnings about two-thirds higher than in the second half of fiscal 2026. North Star is forecast to perform nearly three-quarters better than in that period, when it reported EBIT of AU$484 million (US$339.8 million). BlueScope attributed the North Star uplift primarily to stronger benchmark spreads.