Steel Market Update (SMU) is constantly being asked to provide details as to the status of the hot rolled, cold rolled and corrosion resistant (CORE) antidumping and countervailing duty trade suits. Here is the status of each investigation as of today, December 10, 2015: CORE – Corrosion Resistant Steels (Galvanized/Galvalume, etc.) Original Filing Date: June […]
Nucor Steel lost again its challenge to Big River Steel’s air permit. In its latest appeal, Nucor argued that the air permit process was flawed and that not enough consideration was given to pollution that Big River Steel would generate. An Arkansas Court of Appeals said on Wednesday that it found no abuse of discretion […]
The Canada Border Services Agency has made final determinations that dumping has occurred on hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from India and Russia and subsidizing on hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from India. The investigation on subsidizing from Russia […]
A Delaware judge invalidated a patent by ArcelorMittal in a ruling favoring AK Steel in a dispute that has been ongoing for almost six years. The original suit, filed in January 2010 by ArcelorMittal, claimed that AK Steel’s lightweight, high-strength steel Ultralume, used in automotive applications, violated ArcelorMittal’s 2001 patent (patent 6,296,805—referred to as ‘805) […]
The following letter to the editor was received over the weekend from Peter Brebach, CEO of Iron Angels of Colorado, in response to an article written about the Chinese Iron and Steel Association (CISA) who recently complained about the Chinese mills being pointed at as being responsible for the steel industry woes in the rest […]
The following article was written by Xavier Boucherat and appeared in the Q4 2015 issue of Automotive Megatrends Magazine and is being reprinted by Steel Market Update with permission. It may be lighter, but aluminium is fundamentally a quick fix, and OEMs currently using aluminium will convert those parts back to steel to reduce mass […]
Navigation for freighters on the Great Lakes is winding to a close. This winter is expected to be warmer which may mean less ice on the Lakes and fewer delays of ore to mills when the shipping season reopens. The past two winters saw unusually high levels of ice coverage that persisted into April and […]
Mexican steelmaker, TYASA will begin construction of a Castrip facility at its Ixtaczoquitlan site near Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico. The excess melt capacity of TYASA’s Quantum Furnace will supply the Castrip thin-strip casting process. TYASA expects the new facility to have a production capacity of 500,000 tons of thin-gauge, high-strength, sheet steel that will supply local […]
A law suit filed by Cliffs Natural Resources against Essar Steel Algoma was dismissed without prejudice on Dec. 3 by the Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in recognition of Algoma’s current CCAA proceedings. The ruling includes the suit filed on January 12, 2015 by Cliffs for US $90 million and Essar Steel Algoma’s […]
USW workers received a letter from ArcelorMittal over the Thanksgiving holiday indicating that retiree premium contributions may be increased early next year. The overall purpose of the letter was to announce the open enrollment period for 2016, but the letter’s language was troubling to members. The USW sent an update reassuring workers that protections and […]
US Steel announced that Vice President – Service Center Solutions Geoff Turk will pursue other opportunities following the transition of the commercial entities during the realignment of its flat-rolled operations. Turk will lead the integration of the Industrial and Service Center Solutions teams and leave US Steel following completion of that project in first quarter […]
US Steel Corp is realigning its flat-rolled operations and management as part of its Carnegie Way transformation. The flat-rolled facilities will report through three consolidated commercial entities: Automotive Solutions, Consumer Solutions, and Industrial, Service Center and Mining Solutions. “The commercial entities have worked to position our company to be best-in-class in innovation, customer service and […]
It will soon be more expensive to export Chinese steel line pipe to Canada. Canada Border Services Agency released its preliminary determination on dumping and subsidization of steel line pipe exported from China and assigned provisional duties ranging from 71 percent to 396 percent. CBSA estimates that in 2014, 48.8 percent of carbon and alloy […]
In early November, nine steel associations released a statement expressing their opposition to China’s bid to become a market economy by December 2016. In a November 25 rebuttal, the Chinese Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said it is “astonished” by the group’s claims that China is primary global contributor to steel overcapacity. CISA called the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum has reached an agreement to purchase all of the outstanding capital stock of Tubular Steel, Inc., a distributor of carbon, alloy and stainless steel pipe, tubing and bar products. Tubular Steel is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and has eight service center locations across the U.S. TSI net sales for 2014 […]
Essar Steel Algoma is asking that courts in Ontario and Delaware order Cliffs Natural Resources to reinstate shipments of ore that were terminated two months ago. Cliffs canceled its contract with Essar Steel Algoma in October claiming breach of contract and triggering Essar Algoma’s filing for CCAA protection. The steel mill is concerned that it […]
Recently, US Steel CEO Mario Longhi was quoted as saying that a Section 201 investigation may be needed to save the domestic steel industry. We want our readers to learn more about what a Section 201 means so we enlisted the help of trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz who was actively involved in the last Section […]
US Steel announced on Monday that it will follow through on its plans to temporarily idle the Granite City Works steelmaking and finishing operations located in Granite City, Ill. In a press release today, the company said the idling is “part of an on-going adjustment of steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand.” […]
On Monday of this week, Steel Market Update conducted an interview with Michael McQuade, CEO for US Steel Canada. The purpose of our interview was to see if USSC will be a viable supplier for 2016 automotive contracts. Many times articles begin by our customers asking what might be construed as a simple question that […]
Manufacturing companies reported their service center suppliers dropping spot steel prices this past week. Ninety percent of the manufacturing respondents responding to last week’s SMU flat rolled steel market questionnaire reported service centers as dropping spot pricing. This continues a growing trend for distributors to dump inventory at reduced margins (or at no margins at […]
The USW and ArcelorMittal will take a break from contract talks over the Thanksgiving holiday and resume on November 29. The USW reminded the membership that the terms and conditions of the previous agreement remain in effect as negotiations continue. Said the USW in a membership update, “As we have reported in previous updates and […]
Brazil is studying a proposal to raise import tariffs on steel goods said Brazilian Finance Minister Joaquim Levy following a hearing of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate. The measures would protect the local steel industry which has been vocal in its demand for a rate hike. No details on specific products or rates […]
New Star Metals is changing its name to Material Sciences Corporation. New Star acquired MSC in March 2014 which remained in operation under the MSC brand. “We have an aggressive growth plan and believe we should go to market as one team – Material Sciences Corporation,” said CEO Patrick Murley, CEO of New Star Metals […]
Shipments of all steel products out of the U.S. based steel service centers totaled 3,363,900 tons, according to the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) in data released on Monday. Total tonnage was up 3.2 percent compared to September but was down 14 percent year-over-year. The daily shipment rate was 152,900 tons which was 1.5 percent […]
The HARDI wholesalers held their monthly galvanized steel conference call earlier today. During the call the wholesalers provided insights into business conditions affecting the companies and discussed the status of the flat rolled steel markets. HARDI wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and coil steels to the mechanical contractors associated with residential and commercial construction in North […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of October were 422,400 net tons, a decrease of 6.5 percent from the month before and decrease of 18.3 percent from October 2014. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,355,300 tons, down 7.3 percent from last month and down 12.3 percent from the […]
Monthly steel imports dropped from 4.4 million tons at the beginning of 2015 to 2.83 million tons as of September 1. SMU asked ports around the country to comment on what they are seeing in relation to import levels and warehoused inventory. The Port of Los Angeles reports steel imports (breakbulk and slab) of 1.3 […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments increased by 104,700 tons in October to 3.201 million tons. Shipping days at 22, were up by one from September. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 147,900 […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a distributor and processor of metals, reported revenue of $790 million in third quarter, down 6 percent from second quarter and down 16.7 percent from Q3 2014. Net income was $6.7 million compared to income of $15.8 million in Q2 and a net loss of $34.7 million in Q3 2014 which included […]
This article was originally published in Steel Market Update newsletter dated November 15, 2015. We provide our members up to date analysis of the status of antidumping and countervailing duty trade cases affecting the flat rolled and plate steel markets. Trade protection is a driving concern for the U.S. steel industry that has seen prices […]