Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de Mexico SAB de CV (AHMSA) has agreed to repay $1.7 billion in debt owed to creditors. The agreement lifts a 15 year suspension of payments that was granted in 1999 after AHMSA failed to meet financial requirements related to debts of $1.90 billion. The suspension allowed AHMSA time to restructure […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in November decreased by 763,700 tons to 2.979 million tons. This was mainly due to a decrease in shipping days from 23 to 19. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments also decreased from 162,700 in October to 156,800. In the eleven years 2004 through 2014 November shipments […]
AK Steel expects shipments to increase by 37 percent to 2 million tons in the fourth quarter of 2014. In the company’s earnings guidance, AK Steel said, despite $321 million in costs associated with the outage at Ashland Works, it expects higher EBITDA than third quarter and net income of $0.05 to $0.10 per diluted […]
US Steel Canada cash flow improved in October with receipts totaling $360.8 million. A ten percent increase in production at Lake Erie Works and a willingness by vendors to extend credit to the troubled company were the primary factors in USSC results, according to a report by court appointed monitor Alex Morrison. Although cash flow […]
Worthington Industries reported an increase in sales for the second quarter of its 2015 fiscal year ending November 30, 2014. Sales of $871 million, however, could not offset weakness in the company’s Engineered Cabs and Oil & Gas sectors. Net earnings fell to $29.5 million from $44.2 million in the previous quarter but surpassed Q2 […]
The European Steel Association (Eurofer) called for tougher anti-dumping and anti-subsidy regulations to level the international trade playing field for the EU. In a statement on Tuesday, Eurofer cites the growing absorption of EU steel demand by foreign imports. Although EU steel demand has grown only moderately in 2014, steel imports rose by 22 percent […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported total steel inventories of 9,195,700 tons. This represents an increase of 15.2 percent above last year and when taking the current shipment rate into consideration, MSCI reported inventories as being 33.1 percent higher than November 2013. The daily shipment rate dropped from 170,100 tons per day (all products) […]
Nucor Corporation expects a “moderate” decrease in earnings in the fourth quarter along with a seasonal drop in operating performance. In the company’s fourth quarter earnings guidance, Nucor noted that exceptionally high import levels have put pressure on steel production and margins. A larger than expected decrease in outside shipments is expected in the fourth […]
Members of USW Local 1865 have ratified a new contract at AK Steel. The 42-month labor agreement covers more than 800 hourly and maintenance employees at Ashland, Kentucky Works. The new contract will take effect on March 1, 2015 and expire Sept. 1, 2018. “We are pleased that members of Local 1865 have ratified a […]
The Mexico Economy Secretariat announced an extension of the investigation of cold rolled coil from China. “There are enough elements to preliminary support that in the investigated period the imports of the subjected product were done under price discrimination and generated a harm threat to the national production,” said the secretariat on Monday. The products […]
US Steel is trying to raise flat rolled steel prices as lead times on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized slip into the 1st Quarter 2015. The General Manager of North American Flat-Rolled Marketing at US Steel sent an internal memo to the General Managers of Sales for the mill regarding current market conditions and […]
ArcelorMittal has idled the Indiana Harbor West No. 2 galvanizing line and plans to shut down the electric arc furnace at Indiana Harbor Long Carbon. Employees were told that the No 1 aluminizing line at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West is also under consideration for shutdown as the company shifts production to AM/NS Calvert in Alabama. […]
AK Steel has completed the reline of the blast furnace hearth at its Ashland, Kentucky Works and the furnace is back in full production. The maintenance and reline, which took 27 days, was moved up from 2015 to correct issues that occurred with the furnace earlier this year. AK Steel reports that the furnace is […]
A judge gave US Steel Canada permission on Friday to restart its Hamilton coke oven battery. A deal was formulated to allow coke produced at the plant to be sold to parent company US Steel in the United States. US Steel spokesperson Trevor Harris told SMU the restart is limited to the currently hot-idled coke […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. announced on Tuesday the purchased of Fox Metals and Alloys, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Fox Metals, based in Houston, Texas, is a steel distributor specializing in alloy, carbon and stainless steel bar and plate products, primarily servicing OEMs and machine shops supporting the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. “The […]
Big River Steel has asked a federal court to block the Clean Air Act challenge mounted by Nucor last August. In a court filing on Friday, Big River Steel said the challenge is a “collateral attack” by Nucor. Big River Steel received the necessary permits from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (AEDQ) to build […]
ArcelorMittal and Italian steel processor Marcegaglia have submitted a non-binding, 30-day deadline offer for troubled Italian steel plant Ilva. Ilva, a privately owned company by Riva Steel, has been under special administration since last year after a court order temporarily shut down a portion of the plant for environmental violations. Toxic factory emissions were found […]
Mexican steel producer Altos Homos de Mexico SA (AHMSA) reported steel shipments of 361,939 tonnes (398,962 tons) in October. Shipments reached a new high due to increased production from expansion at Monclova. Annual production capacity has been boosted to 5.5 million tons from 4.75 million tons (6.06 million tons and 5.23 million tons, respectively). The […]
US Steel announced on Monday it will build a new corporate headquarters at the former Civic Arena site in Pittsburgh’s lower Hill District. The new headquarters is part of US Steel’s Carnegie Way and is expected to provide significant cost savings by housing employees from a number of locations under one roof. “As we continue […]
The Sparrows Point blast furnace is scheduled for demolition sometime within the next few days or weeks, according to Sparrows Point Terminal LLC, the current owners of the site. Officials said the 320-foot tall L blast furnace will be imploded by Controlled Demolition Inc on a weekday in December. The furnace from the former Bethlehem […]
Once the site of the largest steel mill in North America, Sparrows Point is being demolished piece by piece. The former Bethlehem Steel plant was put into bankruptcy by its last steel owner, RG Steel and the new owners have sold off the equipment and the buildings have been scrapped. The last major structure left […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in October increased by 244,000 tons to 3.742 million tons. This was due to an increase in shipping days from 21 to 23. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 166,600 tons in September to 162,700 in October. In every month this year since March, t/d […]
Earlier today Steel Market Update participated in the HARDI steel group conference call which resulted in more questions than answers being raised due to the uncertainty in the galvanized steel markets. The call began with a recap of the price announcements which were made by the domestic mills when AK Steel began the process on […]
Yesterday the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released their inventory and shipment data. According to the latest data total steel inventories dropped by 0.40 percent from the previous month and stood at 9,312,500 tons as of the end of October. Although down from the prior month steel inventories were 15.5 percent higher than October 2013. […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/– United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 — United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
US Steel announced a realignment of its reporting segments in order to meet strategic goals set forth in its Carnegie Way transformation. The North American flat-rolled segment will include creation of commercial entities to address specific markets. The realignment will take effect by January 1, 2015. “These commercial entities will put our company in a […]
The world’s largest steel trader, Duferco International Trading Holding, confirmed Tuesday it will sell a majority stake to China’s Hebei Iron & Steel Group. The deal is valued at approximately $400 million according to China News Service. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, is aimed at enhancing the ability of China’s largest steel company to sell […]
There is a new flat rolled steel mill under construction in Arkansas. The mill will be complete in 2016. However, we feel that many of you are probably interested to know what the timetable is for the ramp up of the mill at this point in time. We have obtained the ramp-up schedule from Big […]
Evraz Claymont Steel is slated for demolition by Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC). The Delaware mill, which has been idled since December 2013, will be sold by Evraz to CDC for an undisclosed figure by the end of the year. CDC plans to “take the site through a brownfield-cleanup process, which will include the demolition […]