Baosteel Group refuted allegations of illegal trade activity charged by US Steel in a Section 337 investigation and said they were “shocked and angry” by the accusations. “As a company whose operations are completely market-oriented, Baosteel Group strictly abides by the laws and regulations of the places in which it is operating in its daily […]
In a surprise move on Friday, US Steel requested that the court shorten the CCAA protection period for US Steel Canada. US Steel Canada had petitioned the court to extend the CCAA period to July 28, 2016 but US Steel attorneys requested the Stay Period extend only to May 29. Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel, who has […]
On April 29, 2016, the Department of Commerce initiated an antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey, and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of CTL plate from Brazil, China, and […]
NanoSteel announced delivery of its first advanced high strength steel to General Motors for initial testing. The new product was developed in partnership with AK Steel and is designed to provide automakers with a new standard in strength, formability and weight for steels used in the production of lightweight, fuel efficient vehicles. NanoSteel says what […]
Olympic Steel reported a narrower than expected net loss of $767,000 for first quarter 2016. Revenues were $258.3 million compared to $346 million in Q1 2015 due to lower prices and volume. First quarter shipments increased, however 16 percent from fourth quarter 2015 recapturing market share from last year’s declining marketplace. “We successfully navigated challenging […]
Updated April 28, 2016 – The United Steelworkers announced Wednesday that they have a tentative agreement contract agreement with ArcelorMittal USA. “After almost a year of difficult bargaining that continued eight months past the expiration of our previous contract, our committee’s hard work and dedication have resulted in a tentative agreement with ArcelorMittal,” said USW […]
US Steel claims trade secrets involved in creating Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) were stolen in a Chinese cyber-attack in January 2011. Information acquired included the particular chemistry for Dual Phase steel (grades 590, 780 and 980) and its coating; critical temperatures and holding times for heating, cooling, and coating the steel; and the capabilities […]
US Steel maintains that Chinese manufacturers and distributors use false documents and transship products through other countries to disguise the country of origin. Numerous antidumping and countervailing duty orders have been placed on Chinese steel products over the years. US Steel maintains that China continues to circumvent these orders by using such methods in violation […]
Earlier today CSN began informing their U.S. customers importing flat rolled steel from them that there has been an accident at their #3 blast furnace in Brazil. The blast furnace, which was just coming back into operation after a 10-day scheduled maintenance outage, will now be down for an “undetermined” amount of time. SMU sources […]
AK Steel announced earnings on Tuesday and the big question in everyone’s mind was if AK Steel Ashland would be restarted. The answer is no, not at this time. CEO Roger Newport said the company does not want to get “hung up in the short term volatility” in the marketplace. AK Steel will be looking […]
Earlier today, Steel Market Update participated in a steel conference call hosted by HARDI. Every month the wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil steel to the HVAC industry conduct an informational conference call to evaluate what is happening in the North American market. Over the past few months we have seen the wholesalers much […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
WASHINGTON, April 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Today United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to initiate an investigation under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, against the largest Chinese steel producers and their distributors. The 337 complaint alleges illegal unfair methods of competition and seeks […]
US Steel Corp. announced a net loss of $340 million for first quarter 2016 and a segment EBIT loss of $242 million or $70 per ton. “It’s my perception that we have probably seen bottom,” said president and CEO Mario Longhi to reporters following U.S. Steel’s shareholder meeting Tuesday in Pittsburgh. US Steel began first […]
Joy Global Inc, a manufacturer of equipment for the mining industry, is looking for a buyer for its Longview, Texas steel plate mill. The Longview specialty mini-mill makes small batch, thick and extra thick steel plate for use in some of Joy Global’s premier mining equipment. Joy Global confirmed it is looking at a potential […]
First, Steel Dynamics Industries (SDI) reported an increase in steel shipments (+17%) and that they were continuing to grow, “…across all divisions but most significant in flat rolled.” They went on to report customer inventory levels are now “better aligned with actual demand, which is supporting increased domestic steel production and now also flat rolled […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
The United Steelworkers have retracted their petition to bring Section 201 action on imports of primary unwrought aluminum. The USW filed the petition on April 18 but is suspending it due to lack of industry support. The April 22 statement from the USW follows: “We have decided to suspend our petition seeking action to restore […]
SSAB Americas reported sales of SEK 2,428 million ($297.5 million) for first quarter 2016 up from 2,321 in Q4. Shipments increased 9 percent from Q4 to 475,000 tonnes. Operating profit, or EBIT, was SEK 55 million ($6.7 million) compared to a loss of SEK 100 mill in in Q4 and profit of SEK 296 million […]
SSAB Americas announced the launch of a new awareness program—EcoSmart, to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship. SSAB Americas’ EcoSmart steel contains 97 percent recoverable scrap metal that has been diverted from landfills. The recycled steel contains everything from old automotive parts to discarded appliances. Along with the use of recycled scrap metal, SSAB Americas […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum posted net income of $92.2 million on sales of $2.16 billion for first quarter 2016. Tons sold were up 8.9 percent from Q4 2015 with average selling price down 15.6 percent from a year ago and down 2.4 percent from the previous quarter. Reliance sold 1,216,700 tons of carbon steel in […]
Nucor announced first quarter 2016 consolidated net earnings within its projected range. Net income was $70.8 million and consolidated net sales were $3.72 billion, a 7 percent increase from Q4. Average sales price per ton decreased 11 percent from Q4, total shipments to outside customers was 5,148,000 tons. Nucor steel mills produced 5,390,000 tons of […]
Steel Dynamics announced a strong quarter with net income of $63 million on net sales of $1.7 billion for first quarter 2016. Steel operating income increased 104 percent to $136 million from fourth quarter due to a 17 percent improvement in shipments which totaled 2.12 million tons. Average steel selling price dropped $40 from Q4 […]
In order for prices to reverse course, service center inventories will need to grow which would ultimately slow mill order books and relax lead times. The service centers we spoke with today were almost unanimous in their opinion that now is not a good time (or any easy time) to build inventories. However, there were […]
The United Steelworkers filed a petition this week under Section 201 of U.S. trade law to attempt stem imports of primary unwrought aluminum. We are reporting on this because a number of companies/organizations having begun calling for the use of Section 201 to help stem unwanted steel imports (see article in tonight’s newsletter written by […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) opened their July flat rolled order book this week. The mill moved prices up by $80 per ton compared to the previous month. We are investigating exactly what that means to buyers. We understand that the mill is on a strict allocation to their regular customers. We expect the mill to […]
NLMK USA crude steel production of 160,000 tonnes was a 94 percent increase quarter over quarter and a 68 percent increase year over year. The jump in production was due to the re-launch of steelmaking at NLMK Indiana after repairs at the end of 2015 as well as from improved steel demand. Capacity utilization improved […]
The following is a quick update on the status of the flat rolled trade cases (hot rolled, cold rolled and corrosion resistant) and what are the next important dates to remember. The corrosion resistant, which covers galvanized, Galvalume and related products such as galvanneal and aluminized, are scheduled to have the Final Determination by the […]
A worker was killed Saturday at Nucor-Yamato Steel in Blytheville, Ark., during an equipment malfunction. Jon Bishop, 34, was performing maintenance work on a roll mill stand when the malfunction occurred, said vice-president and general manager, Leon Topalian. Bishop was a two year employee of Nucor-Yamato and worked in the Rolling Mill Mechanical Area. The […]
Last week hearings were held in Washington, D.C. regarding the plight of the domestic steel industry, world over-capacity of steel production (with a special emphasis on China). During the hearings a number of trade remedies were mentioned such as Section 201 and Section 232 along with the antidumping and countervailing duty flat rolled steel trade […]