Analysis
February 15, 2026
Written by Michael Cowden
First, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the Tampa Steel Conference. More than 600 people – smashing the record we set last year.
In other ways, 2026 felt similar to 2025: Once again, President Trump (or someone in his orbit) provided us with some news to react to live from the stage. Namely, the “derivative” Section 232 tariffs on downstream steel and aluminum products are being reviewed.
The busy fall maintenance season isn’t over yet. Mill outages have rolled along since September, squeezing an already tight sheet market heading into November and beyond. Another round of scheduled maintenance is approaching, with outages still ahead at North Star BlueScope, ArcelorMittal Calvert, and Nucor Berkeley. Much of the fall maintenance calendar is now in the rearview mirror. September and October outages included U.S. Steel’s Gary Works; Nucor’s Hickman, Decatur, Gallatin and Crawfordsville operations; Steel Dynamics’ Sinton and Columbus mills; Cleveland-Cliffs’ Dearborn hot strip mill; NLMK Portage; and Big River Steel Works.
SunCoke Energy’s third-quarter revenue edged down to $485.9 million. Lower blast coke sales volumes and lower coal-price pass-throughs on long-term, take-or-pay agreements weighed on revenue. Higher terminals handling volumes and one additional month of Phoenix Global results partly offset the declines. Net income attributable to SunCoke was $21.8 million, compared with $22.2 million a year earlier. The Lisle, Ill.-based company expects 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA to modestly exceed the top of its $250 million to $265 million guidance range. Third-quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose $17.8 million year over year (y/y) to $76.9 million.
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.
The situation in Turkey for procuring ferrous scrap for its steel industry is facing some difficult times. As obsolescent scrap flows start to abate in Northern Europe and the US with the onset of the winter and the holiday season, the price of buying scrap for this period is trending upward. The domestic market in the US is expected to rise in November, possibly in December, and definitely in January as the US melt rate shows no signs of lessening. In Europe, the main problem is supply as the Turkish mills have leaned on this region heavily over the last two months rather than sourcing enough higher priced US cargoes. The European suppliers can only sell what is convenient at this point without an increase in price.
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.