Market Segment
January 28, 2026
Written by Ethan Bernard
Nucor Chair and CEO Leon Topalian is bullish on the outlook for 2026. And noted that the Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker remains in the hunt for M&A opportunities.
“Our historic backlogs, volumes, the demand, the robustness that we see in this economy. … I think ’26 is shaping up to be a very, very solid year for Nucor,” Topalian said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.
The United Steelworkers (USW) union will meet with U.S. Steel (USS) on Friday as negotiations around terms of a new labor contract continue. The meeting comes after the USW and Cleveland-Cliffs, one of U.S. Steel’s competitors, agreed to a tentative labor agreement last week. “USS knows how this process works. They agreed to meet with us on Friday. The company knows they need to move, so this meeting should be productive,” the union said in a text to members on Wednesday.
In this week's Market Chatter, steel buyers point to tight supply and steady demand as reasons sheet prices could keep rising, with many expecting HRC to reach $1,400-1,449 per short ton in two months. Views on when the rally will peak are mixed, with some anticipating further increases while others mention softening demand and political uncertainty. Respondents also disagree on tariffs' impact. They say reshoring is generating activity but has yet to translate consistently into demand.
Latin American steelmaker Ternium is considering filing more anti-dumping cases in Mexico, according to a report from Reuters. Ternium CEO Maximo Vedoya told Reuters on Tuesday that the company would “very likely” file more trade cases in Mexico after supporting recent trade actions there. Additionally, Vedoya said the US and Mexico share a common issue in combating unfairly traded steel.
Mesabi Metallics has received preliminary approval for tax incentive terms for a proposed steel plant in Iowa, following a Nov. 10 meeting of the Lee County Board of Supervisors. The company, owned by India’s Essar Group, announced in late September its intention to build an electric-arc furnace steel plant in the state, which, if built, would be the largest in the US.
ArcelorMittal Calvert is progressing on the construction of its new $1.2-billion non-grain-oriented electrical steel (NGO or NOES) mill, with production slated to begin in 2027. The steelmaker reported in its third-quarter earnings that it's on track with the 150,000-metric-ton-per-year project, located adjacent to its existing sheet mill in Calvert, Ala.