• Skip to main content

    Market Segment

    September 9, 2025

    Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot

    Written by Laura Miller

    Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. Autumn is just around the corner. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!

    SMU has received various reports from multiple sources about the mill outages slated for the rest of the year at North American steel mills. We contacted all the mills for confirmation, with a handful of them confirming, but the remainder quiet. So please note some of the outages listed below are unconfirmed. Contact your mill reps with any questions.

    Laura Miller

    Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held various editorial positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills since 2007. She joined the SMU team in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

    Read more from Laura Miller

    Latest in Market Segment

    Pacific Steel’s Mojave Micro Mill to bring 700 jobs to California

    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.

    Reliance says caution around foreign buys makes import flood unlikely

    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.

    Global raw steel output down again in September

    Global raw steel production slowed for the fourth straight month in September, according to the latest figures from the World Steel Association (worldsteel). After falling 3.4% month over month (m/m) in August, the total volume of raw steel produced around the globe ticked down 1.2% to an estimated 142.4 million metric tons (mt) in September. Output was down just 0.1% year over year (y/y). On a 12-month moving average (12MMA) basis, annual production has averaged 149.3 million mt per month across the past year. This was down 1.6% y/y and was the lowest 12MMA since May (Figure 1). Before September 2025, annual output had generally hovered between 152 million mt and 154 million mt for over three years, similar to pre-pandemic levels.

    BlueScope names interim North America leader as Keast departs

    BlueScope has announced interim leadership for its US operations with the impending departure of Kristie Keast. BlueScope has announced interim leadership for its North American operations ahead of the departure of Kristie Keast. Keast will leave the company at the end of October after serving as chief executive of North America since February 2023, the company said. "Kristie has made a significant contribution to BlueScope during her 25-year tenure,” said BlueScope’s managing director and CEO Tania Archibald. “On behalf of the Board and Executive Leadership Team, I thank her for her leadership and commitment to the Company and wish her every success for the future."

    Drilling activity is flat again in the US, recovers in Canada

    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.