February shipping is fraught with higher rates, low capacity and shipping delays. The trucking industry is battling a dwindling labor pool and ELD disruptions that are making rail disruptions more difficult and even causing ocean carriers to take notice. Seaborne freight Vessel freight rates are expected to rise for contracts priced for March and April, […]
Union Partners announced plans today to build a new steel processing facility on the Osceola, Ark., campus of Big River Steel. The operations will be located directly adjacent to Big River’s Flex Mill and will include both slitting and multi-blanking lines in a new build-to-suit facility expandable to 258,000 square feet. Construction will be on […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. is seeing growing demand across all its product segments and expects that trend to continue through 2018. Reliance reported a strong fourth quarter with net sales up 15.3 percent year-over-year to $2.38 billion. Third-quarter sales were somewhat lower due to expected seasonality. Fourth-quarter shipments totaled 1,451,000 tons, up 6.3 percent […]
Russel Metals Inc., the Toronto-based steel distributor, reported positive results in its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings report, driven by sales to the energy sector. Net income for the company totaled $124 million on revenues of $3.3 billion in 2017, a significant improvement from the $63 million earned on sales of $2.6 billion in 2016. The […]
At a meeting with lawmakers this morning, President Donald Trump said imposing tariffs is an option for stopping the dumping of steel and aluminum into the U.S. “I want to keep prices down, but I want to make sure that we have a steel industry,” said Trump, according to a Bloomberg report. “Part of the […]
Distributors of galvanized steel products to the HVAC industry are concerned that steel prices could experience a correction once President Trump finally announces his decision on Section 232. “I fear that a lot of 232 is already built into the pricing, and if the [trade action] is less than people were expecting, we could see […]
The Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday the initiation of new antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on imports of large-diameter welded pipe from Canada, China, Greece, India, Korea, and Turkey. Dumping margins were estimated by the petitioners at 50.89 percent for Canada, 41.04 percent for Greece, 120.84 to 132.63 percent for China, 37.94 percent […]
Does President Trump’s call for a “reciprocal tax” on imports from countries that impose higher tariffs than the U.S. give him cover for the dilemma he faces over Section 232? Speaking at a White House meeting with state officials and local executives on Monday to discuss his infrastructure plan, the president offered up some unexpected […]
Fifteen trade associations, representing more than 30,000 U.S. steel-using manufacturers and employing one million American workers, sent a letter to President Trump and other senior trade officials last night in advance of the meeting between the administration and lawmakers regarding Section 232. The letter warns that restrictions on basic steel imports will “adversely impact national […]
The American Institute for International Steel, which represents foreign steel producers, sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday on behalf of the 1.3 million people who depend on steel imports for their livelihoods. AIIS President Richard Chriss urged the administration not to impose new tariffs and quotas on imported steel products that would benefit […]
ArcelorMittal Mexico has contracted with Primetals Technologies for the construction of a new hot strip mill at Lázaro Cárdenas. Primetals will erect the hot strip mill and a hot skin pass mill, including power supply, mechanical equipment, drives and automation. The mill is designed for an annual capacity of 2.5 million metric tons of hot […]
Corrosion resistant steel imported from China to the European Union has been assigned antidumping duties by the European Commission. The commission announced Thursday that the duties will range from 17.2 to 27.9 percent, similar to the provisional rates set in August of 17.2 to 28.5 percent. Eurofer, the EU steelmakers association, petitioned the commission in […]
New York State’s “Buy American” procurement law will take effect April 1 and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is fighting back. Wynne said that if a last minute exception is not granted to Ontario, the province will take “proportional” retaliatory action. The New York law will require state agencies to use steel and iron made in […]
Editor’s note: Richard Chriss, president of the American Institute for International Steel, which represents foreign steelmakers, offered this rebuttal to a recent letter to the editor in the New York Times by Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing: There is no single word for the economic fallacy of assuming that those who […]
The United Steelworkers challenged the president to reduce the trade deficit after Commerce released its deficit report today. The Department of Commerce reported that for 2017, the goods and services deficit increased $61.2 billion, or 12.1 percent, from 2016. Exports increased $121.2 billion or 5.5 percent and imports increased $182.5 billion or 6.7 percent. Specifically […]
U.S. Steel has named an interim executive to head the company’s tubular segment following the retirement of David Rintoul. Douglas R. Matthews, senior vice president – Industrial, Service Center and Mining Solutions, will assume the day-to-day responsibilities of U.S. Steel Tubular Products. Commenting on the appointment, CEO David Burritt said, “Doug is the best choice […]
U.S. steelmakers sent a letter to President Trump on Feb. 1 urging the administration to take action against steel imports under Section 232. The letter from the American Iron and Steel Institute stressed that immediate action is needed to prevent imports from recapturing nearly a third of the U.S. market as they did last June. […]
Those who were hoping the State of the Union address would offer some indication of how President Trump will act on Section 232 were left disappointed. His speech was long on patriotism and short on specifics when it came to trade policy. The steel industry is left to speculate on whether the administration will further […]
U.S. Steel finished 2017 on a strong note with net sales of $3.13 billion and net earnings of $159 million in the fourth quarter. Steel shipments for the quarter totaled 3.8 million tons. Commenting on U.S. Steel’s results, President and CEO David Burritt said, “We finished the year with three solid quarters as investments in […]
ArcelorMittal’s NAFTA segment saw crude steel production decrease 5.2 percent to 5.6 million metric tons in the fourth quarter due to operational issues in Mexico, planned maintenance at Dofasco, and a slower U.S. market. Steel shipments declined 8.9 percent to 4.2 million metric tons, primarily driven by lower volumes in flat and long products. Sales […]
Brian D. Robbins, CEO of MidWest Materials, Inc. in Perry, Ohio, will be honored by the Association of Steel Distributors as its 2017 Steel Man of the Year during a special dinner celebration on Wednesday, March 7, at the ASD Spring Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz. MidWest Materials has had a long and rich history with […]
U.S. Steel announced Jan. 31 that the president of its tubular products segment, David J. Rintoul, plans to retire effective Feb. 28. Graphite electrode company GrafTech announced concurrently that Rintoul will join the company as President and CEO effective March 1. Rintoul, currently senior vice president – tubular business and president of tubular products, began […]
Planned maintenance outages at AK Steel contributed to a net loss of $107.9 million in the fourth quarter. Net sales during the quarter increased 5 percent to $1.5 billion, however, driven by incremental sales from recently acquired Precision Partners. Flat rolled shipments declined to 1,337,100 tons in the quarter from 1,385,500 tons in Q4 2016 […]
“We don’t just sell to each other–this is a kind of unique relationship in the world…we make things together,” said Canada International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne in a recent speech. Center for Automotive Research analyst Bernard Swiecki referred to the quote as a summary of what NAFTA means to the North American automotive industry. “We […]
In its year-end 2017 financial report, Nucor delivered its highest annual earnings since 2008. Consolidated net sales increased 25 percent to $20.25 billion, compared with $16.21 billion for fiscal 2016. Shipments to outside customers during 2017 totaled 26,492,000 tons, an increase of 9 percent from fiscal 2016. Average sales price per ton increased 15 percent. […]
The sixth round of NAFTA talks closed on Monday with the U.S. Trade Representative rejecting proposals by Canada and lamenting the slow pace of the renegotiations. “We finally began to discuss the core issues, so this round was a step forward,” Robert Lighthizer said. “But we are progressing very slowly. We owe it to our […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled on Friday that imports of Canadian Bombardier civil aircraft do not injure the U.S. industry. The surprise unanimous vote was a disappointment to Boeing which called for stiff tariffs against their competitor for alleged unfair trade practices. In December 2017, the Commerce Department claimed the planes were sold at […]
SSAB North America achieved higher market share in 2017. SSAB’s share of the North American steel slab market was estimated at 30 percent for the year. Full-year earnings and shipments increased compared to 2016. Sales for the full year were SEK 12.7 billion ($1.6 billion) and shipments 1,971,000 metric tons (2.17 million short tons). Fourth-quarter […]
ArcelorMittal USA is in the process of changing up production at its Cleveland mill. The company plans to transfer the production of cold-rolled annealed steels produced at ArcelorMittal Cleveland to its operations in East Chicago and Burns Harbor, Ind. The product transfer plan is in development with targeted completion by the end of June. While […]
The trucking industry’s leading trade group is calling on policymakers to back a new 20-cent tax on all transportation fuels, including diesel, gasoline and natural gas, to fund repairs to the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is seeking support for its Build America Fund, which would be funded by a […]