Air Liquide, a supplier of industrial gases, plans to invest more than $100 million to upgrade and extend its Gulf Coast pipeline by 28 miles to serve Steel Dynamics, Inc.’s planned minimill in Sinton, Texas. Under the agreement with SDI, Air Liquide will install a new Air Separation Unit with the capacity to produce more […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The Trump administration’s trade policies make for interesting reading; but the results of those policies are, if anything, more interesting. Tariffs are the hallmark of the Trump presidency, especially the Section 301 tariffs on China and the Section […]
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), a manufacturing and technology alliance devoted to promoting manufacturing innovation, has announced a $28.8 million collaborative funding effort to support nine cutting-edge Canadian projects, including one at ArcelorMittal Dofasco. NGen runs Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, a government initiative begun in 2018 that pledged up to $950 million to match private […]
The Department of Commerce has initiated an investigation to determine if seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe from the Czech Republic, Korea, Russia and Ukraine is being sold at less than fair value in the U.S. market and whether such pipe is being subsidized by the governments of Korea and Russia. […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: You may have seen news stories in the last two weeks about U.S. threats to impose tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico because of “surging” levels of imports from those countries. Don’t believe everything you read: […]
By CRU Senior Analysts Ryan Smith and Andrew Gadd, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Oil markets have had a torrid 2020, with the combination of demand losses due to Covid-19 and the breakdown of coordination between major producing countries resulting in plummeting prices. In this Insight, we assess how this oil price shock influences […]
Contractors Steel, a division of UPG Enterprises, has hired Jim Gould as West Region Sales Manager. In his new role, Gould is responsible for the business development of Contractors Steel’s newest service center location in Phoenix, scheduled to open in the fourth quarter. Gould joins Contractors Steel with more than 30 years of experience in […]
For the second year in a row, Nucor Corp. was recognized as a General Motors Supplier of the Year during a virtual ceremony on June 24. Less than 1 percent of GM’s suppliers receive this award. Nucor remains the only electric arc furnace steelmaker to get this recognition. Supplier of the Year award winners were […]
The COVID-19 pandemic took a serious toll on global steel output in May everywhere but in China. The World Steel Association reports that world steel production declined by 8.7 percent last month, compared with May 2019, to an estimated 148.8 million metric tons. Steel production in China actually increased by 4.2 percent in May to […]
SSAB’s Montpelier, Iowa, steel mill will begin a four-week outage starting on June 27. The downtime is for planned bi-annual maintenance, said a spokesperson for the company. SSAB Americas operates two scrap-based electric arc furnaces, one at Montpelier and the other in Mobile, Ala., with a combined annual production capacity of 2.4 million tons. In […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The World Trade Organization has had a rough couple of years. The United States arranged the destruction of the WTO Appellate Body because the U.S. alleges that the final tribunal of the WTO dispute settlement system has overstepped […]
Worthington Industries will start its fiscal year 2021 under the leadership of Andy Rose as president and chief executive officer. Rose will succeed John P. McConnell who will remain with the company as executive chairman. The transition is effective Sept. 1. Rose joined Worthington in 2008 as vice president and chief financial officer, helping to […]
AK Steel, a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, was named GM Supplier of the Year for Raw Materials during General Motors’ 28th annual Supplier of the Year Awards June 24. AK Steel was among 116 suppliers recognized by GM for their performance in 2019. The award is reserved for suppliers who meet performance metrics for quality, execution, […]
Worthington Industries faced a challenging quarter as stay-at-home orders and closure of nonessential businesses impacted the markets it serves. Demand levels fluctuated depending on the market with company conditions normal in March, break even in April and profitable in May, albeit at lower levels. Although the economic outlook is still unclear, Worthington expects a return to […]
Kate Mitchell joins the leadership team of Majestic Steel USA as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Cleveland-based Majestic is a privately held distributor and processor of flat-rolled steel serving customers in manufacturing, construction and distribution throughout North America. Reporting to Majestic CEO Todd Leebow, Mitchell will oversee brand marketing and corporate communications, as well […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the American Institute for International Steel’s Section 232 case, bringing an end to the trade group’s constitutional challenge of the Trump administration’s national security tariffs on steel and aluminum. AIIS regrets the court’s decision, said Richard Chriss, president of the institute, which represents foreign producers, metals importers […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Monday, the Supreme Court announced its decision not to take the case of American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, […]
The Ports of Indiana has been awarded a Marine Highway Grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to develop a steel barge shuttle with Nucor Steel at its Jeffersonville port. The project will allow barge shipments of steel coils from Ghent, Ky., to the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville. The $778,766 project includes the construction […]
PRCO America, Inc., a Chinese company that manufactures refractory brick used by steel mills to line their furnaces and transfer ladles, plans to open their first U.S. facility, in Graves County, Ky., by the end of the year. The western Kentucky location was chosen for its proximity to many steel mills, as well as to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A rather eventful week in D.C. has brought to the fore a new proposal from House Democrats to pass an infrastructure bill. Readers will recall “Infrastructure Week” last year, which featured a tense White House meeting that ended […]
Steel Dynamics expects its second-quarter earnings to be significantly lower than first-quarter results. Adjusted earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.40 to $0.44, well below $0.88 per share reported in Q1. The decline in earnings is due to lower steel demand and selling prices attributed to the temporary closures […]
Mexican steelmakers Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) and Villacero have a signed a non-binding agreement to merge assets as a new company. The agreement gives the two parties 90 days to complete regulatory documents to move forward with the reported $300 million deal. A June 18 filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange said: “The agreement […]
U.S. Steel anticipates the second quarter will “mark the trough for the year.” In earnings guidance issued on June 17, the company said it expects an adjusted EBITDA loss of $315 million, exclusive of approximately $100 million of estimated restructuring and other charges. The guidance was significantly lower than analyst consensus and nearly five times […]
Nucor is guiding to better-than-expected second-quarter earnings in the range of $0.10 to $0.15 per diluted share. First-quarter earnings were $0.07 per diluted share and included asset losses related to the mill’s equity method investment in Italy. Nucor’s downstream steel products segment remained strong during the quarter due to resilient demand in nonresidential construction. COVID-19 […]
Commercial Metals Co. navigated through third quarter FY 2020 pandemic challenges with almost no disruption to operations or loss of productivity, achieving net sales of $1.34 billion and earnings of $64.2 million Barbara Smith, chairman of the board, president and CEO, commented, “While the effects of the COVID-19 crisis impacted our business throughout the third […]
U.S. Steel plans to indefinitely reduce operations of the pickle line, cold mill and finishing division at Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich. The action is separate from the indefinite idling of ironmaking, steelmaking and hot strip rolling mill facilities announced in December 2019. The company said in a June 8 letter to the Michigan […]
Big River Steel (BRS) expects to complete its capacity expansion by the end of this year more than two months ahead of expectations. The mill in Osceola, Ark., is in the process of doubling its annual steel production capacity from 1.65 million to 3.3 million tons. BRS began operations at its $1.3 billion scrap metal […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 keeps cropping up in the news; this week, it’s no different. In 2017, the Commerce Department initiated several investigations (on steel, aluminum, autos and auto parts, and uranium). Trade restrictions ensued on steel and aluminum, but […]
Cargo shipments on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway were impacted during the coronavirus pandemic, with ports seeing lower volumes. Tonnage on the St. Lawrence Seaway was down 10 percent year over year in the period from March 15 through May 31 to 7.7 million metric tons, said the Marine Chamber of Commerce. “Road […]
EVRAZ NA will reduce its workforce by an additional 65 employees at EVRAZ Oregon Steel as operations are idled in response to weak demand due to the coronavirus. In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to the state of Oregon, EVRAZ said it “has experienced a significant business downturn” and will permanently reduce the workforce […]