Completion of the Essar Steel Minnesota taconite project has been delayed until late 2015 according company officials. The facility, begun in 2008, was originally slated for completion in 2013 and would increase annual production of taconite pellets from 4 million tonnes to 7 million tonnes. Essar Steel Minnesota CEO and President Madhu Vuupuluri said production […]
AK Steel has posted losses for the past four quarters and has added third quarter 2013 to that trend. The company reported a net loss of $31.7 million compared to a loss of $40.4 million the previous quarter and $60.9 million in third quarter 2012. Net sales were $1.33 billion on shipments of 1.24 million […]
Pencil them in as non-believers. During our monthly steel conference call held with HARDI wholesalers who distribute steel sheet and coil, we were advised that it is only a matter of time before steel prices begin to falter. One of the wholesalers told the group, “…Forty dollars per hundredweight – How many months out of […]
NLMK USA steel sales totaled 451,000 metric tons (497,141 net tons) for third quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.1 percent from second quarter and 8.7 percent from third quarter 2012. The increase was due mostly to greater US sales for hot rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized steel—275,000 tonnes (303,135 net tons) and 65,000 tonnes […]
Employees at Severstal Mountain State Carbon rejected a four-year contract offered by the company after more than a year at the bargaining table. The offer was defeated 181 to 7 by USW Local 1190. “We weren’t asking for the world,” said Don Hubbard a member of the union’s bargaining team. Worker demands included four weeks […]
Cevian Capital is making a move on ThyssenKrupp AG saying it will raise its stake in ThyssenKrupp to 10 percent by the end of the year and will seek a seat on the supervisory board, according to sources reported by German publication Manager Magazin. It is speculated that Cevian could fill one of three board […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments declined by 241,500 tons in September compared to August but shipping days also declined by two. As a result, tons per day shipments increased from 158,100 to 161,800. Month end inventory increased by 2,000 tons to 7,604,000 tons. Intake improved from 162,210 tons per day in August to 166,940 […]
Severstal NA reported sales of 1.2 million tonnes (1.32 million tons) of rolled products in the third quarter, a 2 percent increase over second quarter. Hot rolled coil and plate production decreased 2 percent to 642,729 tonnes (708,475 million tons) as compared to 656,574 tonnes (723,736 million tons) in the second quarter. […]
Steel Dynamics reported a strong third quarter net income of $57 million on net sales of $1.9 billion. In comparison, SDI reported $13 million net income on net sales of $1.7 billion in September 2012, and $29 million on net sales of $1.8 billion in second quarter 2013. “Our consolidated operating income increased 64 percent […]
Nucor announced consolidated net earnings of $147.6 million for the third quarter of 2013 as compared to net earnings of $85.1 million reported in the previous quarter and $110.3 million in third quarter of 2012. Net sales increased 6 percent to 4.94 billion, up slightly from $4.67 billion in the second quarter […]
Evraz North America announced Monday it would suspend operations at its steel mill in Claymont, Delaware on December 13th due to “subdued market demand and the high volume of imports.” The Russian-owned mill produces specialized steel plate and has an annual capacity of 500,000 tons but produced only 383,590 tons in 2012 and 189,025 tons […]
SMU learned in a recent conference call held by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts that CSN is no longer interested in the ThyssenKrupp Brazil assets. Thiago Lofiego, senior Latin American Mining & Steel analyst at BofAML said CSN now appears to be interested in purchasing only the TK Alabama assets for a price in […]
Essar Algoma is looking for a few good men (or women) to fill three of its top positions: CEO, CFO, and Chief – Sales and Marketing. The position of chief executive officer is currently held by Kalyan Ghosh who stepped in as Interim CEO following Jim Hrusovsky’s resignation in November 2012 after sixteen months in […]
The following is an email we received from a service center executive regarding the current contract negotiations and their opinion as to how changes can change the mix of contracts to spot orders on with a mill and, price volatility in the marketplace. We have heard the same argument from others within the steel industry […]
You don’t usually think of fruit when visiting a domestic steel mill. However, our gracious hosts at Nucor Arkansas (Hickman) let us in on the secret of Strawberries – and that’s all I have to say about that. For more details talk to anyone associated with Nucor Arkansas and they will most likely let you […]
Kloeckner Metals Co. announced the opening of a new light gauge flat rolled processing center at the ThyssenKrupp Steel USA plant site in Calvert, Alabama. The service center will provide toll processing for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA based on a long-term, owner-independent exclusive contract. The 100,000 square foot facility will offer slitting first and will later […]
Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama announced that IT-TRI LLC will build a steel tubing and manufacturing plant in Lawrence County. The Chicago-based company hopes to break ground in Trinity, Ala. this fall and begin operations in 2014. “Having two raw material suppliers in Alabama, Nucor Steel in Decatur and U.S. Steel in Birmingham, and due […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 7, 2013 — Nucor Corporation NUE +0.08% announced that The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) presented Nucor’s Executive Chairman Dan DiMicco with its Iverson-Selig award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the minimill steel industry. The award is named after Nucor’s founder Ken Iverson and Marvin Selig, founder of CMC Steel, who were two […]
Activist investor Cevian Capital announced it has increased its stake in ThyssenKrupp AG from 5.2 percent to 6.1 percent. You may be familiar with the definition of an activist as “a vigorous advocate of a cause” but an activist investor is not quite the same. Investopedia defines an activist investor as: An individual or group […]
Severstal NA announced on Monday an increase in flat rolled steel base price in line with the ArcelorMittal announcement. Hot Rolled $34.00/cwt $680/net tonCold Rolled $39.50/cwt $790/net tonGalvanized $39.50/cwt $790/net ton In the company letter sent to their customers Severstal pointed to steady pace of automotive sales and demand […]
Nucor was the last of the major domestic flat rolled mills to come out with new minimum base price levels on flat rolled steel products. Nucor chose to mimic those of ArcelorMittal and not NLMK or AK Steel whose announcements were slightly different than the rest of the industry. Nucor advised their customers through use […]
On Monday morning, NLMK USA announced new flat rolled steel base prices which are to become effective immediately. The minimum base prices announced are: Hot Rolled: $33.50/cwt base ($670 per ton plus extras) Cold Rolled: $38.50/cwt base ($770 per ton plus extras) Galvanized: $38.50/cwt base ($770 per ton plus extras) Specialty 1050: $48.00/cwt […]
ArcelorMittal USA came out with new flat rolled base prices shortly after those announced by NLMK USA. In an email to their customers, AM advised, “Effective immediately, the following minimum base prices are applicable to all future orders accepted by Arcelor Mittal USA LLC for delivery by December 31, 2013.” The base prices presented were […]
AK Steel joined NLMK and ArcelorMittal in raising spot market base prices for all carbon flat-rolled steel products. Effective immediately, the company will be quoting the following minimum base prices for new orders: Minimum Base Prices for New Orders: – Hot Rolled: $680 per ton – Cold Rolled: $790 per ton – Hot Dipped Galvanized: […]
Severstal NA announced more management changes on Friday to complete its senior leadership team. Gerrit Reepmeyer was appointed Vice President, Procurement. An April 2013 addition to SNA as Director, Energy and Utilities, Reepmeyer worked previously as a Principal of E.On Inhouse Consulting, a power and gas company located in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mikhail Zhavoronkov was appointed […]
“I am shocked” was how one manufacturing purchasing manager put it to SMU in a conversation regarding the replacement of Tom Marchak as head of Commercial for Severstal North America. On Tuesday, Severstal North America introduced Sachin Shivaram as the new Vice President, Commercial for the mill. This change comes three weeks after the […]
ThyssenKrupp AG received permission from lenders to waive a test on its EUR 2.5 billion line of credit. The loan required ThyssenKrupp to limit its debt to equity ratio to 150 percent, a test that ThyssenKrupp would likely have failed, allowing lenders to cancel the loan. In June of 2013, the company’s debt ratio was […]
A storage dome collapse will delay the start-up of Nucor’s new DRI plant in Convent, La., until the end of the year said Nucor officials in a press release on Sept. 26. On Wednesday afternoon, one of three storage domes for storage of iron ore pellets, suffered structural failure and collapsed, creating what sounded like […]
US Steel announced management changes in the company’s raw materials and procurement organizations last week. Scott Conley will succeed Marc Stoken on Oct. 1 as general manager—raw materials. Stoken is retiring after 37 years with US Steel. Conley began his US Steel career in 1987 as an associate programmer in Pittsburgh and worked in purchasing […]
Big River Steel received its air quality permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on Sept. 19, clearing the way for final financing and preparation for construction. The company plans on breaking ground between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2013. The construction of the $1.1 billion plant is projected to take 18 months and provide […]