AK Steel reports that members of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Local 4104, have ratified a new three-year labor agreement covering about 110 hourly production and maintenance employees at the company’s Zanesville (Ohio) Works. AK Steel said that UAW officials notified the company that the new contract was ratified in voting held on May 30. […]
Industry veteran Greg Gross has accepted a position with Chicago-based Blackhawk Steel Corp. as its new director of purchasing and sales and chief operating officer. Blackhawk Steel is a distributor specializing in secondary steel products. Its sister company Dockside Steel Processing offers a range of processing services including leveling and slitting from a 120,000-square-foot processing […]
The chairman of Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de Mexico SAB was arrested on Tuesday in an anti-corruption probe, resulting in the freezing of AHMSA accounts and a possible disruption to steel production in Mexico. The investigation involves the sale by AHMSA of an idled fertilizer plant in 2014, allegedly worth $50 million, to oil […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Asked a Steel Market Update reader: Why are U.S. prices now so far below China’s tariff-adjusted prices? The short answer is that Chinese exports to the U.S. are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) totaling more than […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will make another cut to European production levels due to weak demand and high import levels in the region. Primary steelmaking will be reduced at facilities in Dunkirk, France, and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany. Production at the facility in Bremen, Germany, will be reduced during the fourth quarter as well as extending planned furnace […]
A $700 million expansion at North Star BlueScope may be in jeopardy, according to some financial analysts who point to new challenges for the mill now that the Section 232 tariffs have been removed from Canada and Mexico. Softening hot rolled coil prices and higher cost inputs are expected to pressure U.S. steel spreads. The […]
Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) plans to increased steel production by 30 percent now that U.S. tariffs have been eliminated. The year-long Section 232 measures caused a 25 percent drop in AHMSA’s steel production and $300 million in lost revenue, said AHMSA President Alonso Ancira Elizondo. As orders from the U.S. fell due to the […]
British Steel Ltd. has been ordered into liquidation after failing to receive another bailout from the government. British Steel hoped to receive a $95 million support package from the government to help it with issues related to the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union. The government previously granted a $152 million loan to the company […]
Major steel producers in the U.S. had hoped the president wouldn’t blink on the Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico—but he did—in an apparent effort to clear the way for passage of the new North American free trade agreement. Now the mills are supporting the administration’s demand that steel trade in North America be […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Analyst Ryan McKinley Steel imports to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico prior to the S232 tariffs were near 12 Mt on an annualized basis. Data from this past March and April show arrivals closer to 7.5 Mt annually. With the end of the S232 on the U.S.’s […]
Like everyone else in the steel industry, members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) are wondering what will happen to supply and prices now that the Trump administration has lifted the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Canada and Mexico and cut in half the tariffs on steel imports from Turkey. […]
Nucor Steel South Carolina will celebrate its 50th anniversary next month with plans to add vacuum degassing to its engineered bar capabilities at the Darlington mill. “This strategic investment complements our existing bar mills that primarily produce engineered bar products in Norfolk, Neb., Memphis, Tenn., and Wallingford, Conn. It will position us to better serve […]
The Trump administration has cut the U.S. tariffs on steel imports from Turkey in half, trimming them from 50 percent back to 25 percent where they were originally set last August. In a statement on Friday, the White House noted that imports of steel into the U.S. declined by 12 percent overall last year, and […]
The agreement to terminate Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico and all retaliatory tariffs was welcomed by many industry associations. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his announcement remarks on Friday, it was “pure good news.” “On behalf of the membership of the CSPA, we thank the Government of Canada for its significant […]
The U.S. has agreed to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada, removing a major roadblock to the ratification of the new North American trade agreement. The Section 232 tariffs, imposing a 25 percent tax on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, have been in place just over one year. The tariffs […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comments on a potential trial program that would allow drivers age 18 to 20 to operate commercial vehicles for interstate commerce. The FMCSA already has a pilot program for former military drivers under the age of 21 and expanding the program would increase the potential labor pool […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Several notices have been published in the last few days, signaling the new reality of the contentious trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. USTR issued a notice, which has not yet been seen in the Federal Register, […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The announcements over the last few days have substantially altered the steel and aluminum trade policy priorities of the United States. I am referring, of course, to the following: (1) the U.S. has dropped steel and aluminum tariffs […]
ArcelorMittal USA has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $5 million in fines for emissions violations in Northwest Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio. “We have been working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Ohio EPA to […]
President Trump could decide this week whether to extend the Section 232 tariffs to imports of vehicles and auto parts. May 18 is the deadline for the president to act on the Commerce Department report submitted back in February. As with the steel industry, the administration has argued that a strong automotive industry is essential […]
Opponents of the proposed Section 232 tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts have won at least a temporary reprieve. On Friday, President Trump announced that he will wait six months before reconsidering the tariffs to give the U.S. Trade Representative time to negotiate new agreements on automotive trade with Europe and Japan. In […]
Material Sciences Corp., a producer of advanced materials and specialty coated metals, announced that private equity firm Sky Island Capital has purchased majority control of the company. “Bringing in the Sky Island team will allow us to be more aggressive with add-on acquisitions and continue to grow the company,” said MSC CEO Pat Murley. “We […]
U.S. Steel Corp. has been hit with another penalty by the Allegheny County Health Department due to emissions violations at its Clairton Coke Works. A fine of $337,670 was levied against the company for excessive visible emissions from its coke batteries during the first quarter of 2019, along with a penalty of $5,750 for a […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Friday marks a turning point in the “trade war” between China and the United States. A widely expected breakthrough in negotiations was supposed to happen this past week, when the Chinese Vice Premier brought a trade delegation over […]
ArcelorMittal faced a number of challenges that impacted earnings in the first quarter resulting in net income plunging 66 percent to $414 million from $1.19 billion reported in both the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019. Earnings reflected a $150 million impairment charge related to the sale of assets to acquire ArcelorMittal […]
Thyssenkrupp has given up on trying to merge its steel division with Tata Steel’s European division after three years of planning. The two companies announced the termination of the proposed joint steel venture on Friday, saying they could not satisfy European antitrust regulators. Thyssenkrupp also ended its plan to separate its capital goods business—car parts, […]
Primetals Technologies will supply an Arvedi Endless Strip Production line for the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant in Pennsylvania. The ESP line is the first to be constructed in the United States and has a rated annual capacity of 2.76 million tons of high quality, ultra-thin strip. The ESP line will be able to produce […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As President Trump tweeted this past Sunday, the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice that List Three of the tariffs on Chinese imports will be subject to 25 percent tariffs effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, […]
Canada’s Russel Metals reported a solid performance in first-quarter 2019, though the company does not expect the market to keep pace with the record-setting year in 2018. “We think 2019 is going to be a very good year for Russel, but more similar to 2017,” said President and CEO John Reid during the quarterly conference […]
AISTech 2019, presented by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, boasted more than 8,000 attendees this year. The four-day conference May 6-9 in Pittsburgh included more than 550 technical presentations and nearly 550 domestic and international exhibiting companies. The exhibit floor was a dizzying display of the latest innovations from software and robotics to cranes […]