Friedman Industries is already seeing the benefits of its April acquisition of Plateplus Inc., but hedging losses continue to impact the company. The Longview, Texas-based steel processor and manufacturer said the fiscal 2023 first quarter ended June 30, 2022, was positively impacted by the acquisition, resulting in the second most profitable quarter in the company’s […]
Commercial Metals Co. posted solid results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, helping make the company’s fiscal year 2022 the best financial performance in its 107-year history. CMC’s North American segment saw strong demand for it finished long products during the quarter, as well as meaningful increases in downstream bid volumes. Destocking activity […]
US Steel has indefinitely idled the tin mill at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana, a company spokeswoman confirmed in an email to Steel Market Update on Thursday, Oct. 13. The move could be a prolonged one, upwards of six months, according to an unconfirmed report. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker had temporarily idled Gary’s No. 5 tin […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union announced they have agreed to a new labor deal after USW members ratified the terms of a new, four-year collective agreement. The USW-represented employees — roughly 12,0000 across 13 Cliffs steelmaking facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, and Minnesota — voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of […]
The US Department of Commerce has updated the antidumping duty rate on imports of carbon and alloy cut-to-length plate from South Korea’s Posco. Having looked at the one-year period ended April 30, 2021, Commerce set a final weighted-average dumping margin of 2.59% for POSCO, according to a Federal Register filing. The final rate was slightly […]
Flat-rolled steel processor JM Steel Corp. is expanding into Georgia with the acquisition of Five Star Roll Form LLC and Sun States Steel Corp. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Five Star is a fabricator serving the trailer, garage door, roofing, and solar industries. Sun States Steel is a flat-rolled steel distributor. Both […]
Service center behemoth Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. will have a new leader come the start of 2023. Current CEO James D. Hoffman will step down from his position at the end of this year, allowing current company president Karla Lewis to step up and serve as both president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2023. […]
Nearly a month after reaching a tentative labor agreement, the possibility of a rail strike is back on the table, as the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union announced on Oct. 10 the rejection of its deal with the freight rail lines. Union members voted in […]
I look for connections in current events, and often they are apparent for all the world to see. One recent example—in the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, Congress reinstated and revised the tax credit for “clean vehicles,” including electric, hybrid plug-in, and alternative fuel vehicles (such as hydrogen fuel cells). These cars are in […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is disputing the US International Trade Commission’s recent decision to allow antidumping and countervailing duties on cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil to expire. In July, the ITC completed five-year sunset reviews of the AD and CVDs on cold-rolled imports. While the agency decided that the duties should remain in place for China, […]
The US Department of Commerce has released preliminary dumping and subsidy margins in the latest administrative review of the duties on cold-rolled steel flat product imports from South Korea. In the antidumping duty review, which is looking at the one-year period ended Aug. 31, 2021, Commerce determined preliminary dumping margins of 0% for Hyundai Steel, […]
US Steel Corp. began construction on its $150 million direct-reduced-grade iron pellet plant in Keewatin, Minn., on Thursday, Oct. 5. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined US Steel’s President and CEO David Burritt, and other leadership members to celebrate the company’s project and tout its “commitment to produce products that are mined, melted and made in […]
Stainless steel sheet and strip imports from China will continue to be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties for at least another five years. This comes as a result of the US International Trade Commission’s final vote in a sunset review of the duties. The agency voted that revoking the current duties would likely lead to […]
ArcelorMittal is investing in energy storage. The Luxembourg-based global steel manufacturer announced on Oct. 4 a $17.5 million dollar investment in Form Energy Inc. Founded in 2017, Form Energy is a Somerville, Mass.-based company with employees in the San Francisco Bay area and Pittsburgh. The manufacturer is developing an iron-air battery that will be able […]
The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration is giving interested parties the opportunity to request administrative reviews of antidumping and countervailing duties on certain imports. The reviews look at imports during certain periods of reviews to determine if the duties should be adjusted. Interested parties currently have the opportunity request reviews of duties on […]
US Steel’s Big River Steel Works in Osceola, Ark., will be able to further utilize solar energy as early as 2024, allowing the company to reduce its environmental footprint even more. The Entergy Arkansas Driver Solar Project has been approved by the Arkansas Public Service Commission. The project will be located on 2,100 acres adjacent […]
The US Department of Commerce has slightly adjusted Hyundai Steel’s countervailing duty (CVD) on its shipments of hot-rolled steel flats to the US. The adjustment comes after Hyundai challenged Commerce’s results of the 2017 administrative review of the duties at the US Court of International Trade (CIT). The CIT agreed with Hyundai that Commerce had […]
BNSF Railway is thinking of a master plan. The Class I freight railroad announced on Oct. 1 its plans to invest more than $1.5 billion into a master-planned inland facility in Southern California. Named Barstow International Gateway, BNSF’s new hub location will be approximately 135 miles northeast from the Ports of Long Beach and Los […]
Steel service center Willbanks Metals Inc. is expanding in Fort Worth, Texas. The company recently purchased property across the street from the current location of its headquarters and flat-rolled steel sheet and plate service center, allowing it to expand with a new Red Bud stretcher leveler and additional processing equipment. “We are thrilled to continue […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has completed its acquisition of Mexican ferrous and nonferrous scrap recycler Roca Acero SA de CV. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based EAF steelmaker did not disclose the purchase price but said the deal was paid for in cash. “Combined with our existing metals recycling facilities in Mexico, the addition of Roca significantly […]
Metals supplier Alro Steel has completed the acquisition of Access Metals, a service center and supplier located in Essex, Md. Effective Sept. 30, the purchase allows Alro to continue growing its customer base. Access Metals caters to small-purchase customers, both from the public and within the manufacturing, machining, and fabricating industries. “Alro shares my philosophy […]
The Jones Act is in the news again. The Jones Act requires that all trade within the United States (including Puerto Rico) be carried on US-registered ships built in the United States and manned by crews composed of at least 90% American citizens or permanent residents. Last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas waived […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) union has rejected US Steel’s latest labor proposal as tensions boil over and the two sides seem nowhere near to reaching a new agreement. Union representatives called the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s latest proposal “a smack in the face” in a text sent to members on Sept. 29. Negotiations are now a month […]
The Hamilton, Ohio-based Matandy steel and metal companies are now 100% employee owned. The prior owners of 35 years, Frank and Joanne Pfirman, recently converted the company to an employee stock option plan, surprising its 110 employees on Sept. 28 with the announcement. “I knew if we were to sell to a competitor or venture […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union announced they have agreed to a new labor deal after members ratified the terms of a new, four-year collective agreement, the company and union said on Friday, Sept. 30. The USW-represented employees at Cliffs mining and pelletizing locations in northern Minnesota and in the Upper Peninsula of […]
A new spiralweld pipe mill has officially opened its doors in Houston. The JDF/HDM mill, a partnership between Houston-based JD Fields and Turkish pipe piling manufacturer HDM Çelik Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, has been rolling pipe successfully for two months now. An official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday, Sept. 28, to celebrate […]
Worthington Industries announced it will be splitting off its steel business and creating two separate, publicly traded businesses. Worthington’s Steel Processing business segment will become the independent Worthington Steel, with an aim to be a processor with expanded offerings in electrical steel laminations and automotive lightweighting solutions. Worthington’s current chief operating officer, Geoff Gilmore, will serve as the […]
Worthington Industries reported sharply lower profits in its fiscal 2023 first quarter results ended Aug. 31, 2022, despite a boost in sales. The Columbus, Ohio-based manufacturer and service center said the drop resulted largely from inventory holding losses at its steel processing division, which negatively impacted results by an estimated $48.6 million. All told, Worthington […]
The US Department of Commerce has issued its final determinations in the trade case investigating the dumping of OCTG imports from Mexico, Argentina, and Russia, and the subsidization of OCTG from Russia and South Korea. The investigations include both welded and seamless OCTG. Antidumping Case In the final results of the case investigating Mexico, Commerce […]
Steel sheet processor Steel Technologies LLC is expanding its campus in Decatur, Ala., to produce steel blanks to be used in the automotive, agricultural, and consumer goods markets. The initial expansion plan has already secured a commitment for approximately 50,000 tons of coil and blank processing, according to a LinkedIn post from the company. A […]