ArcelorMittal kicked has off its second annual “Steel Spirit Sweepstakes” contest, giving its USA employees, customers, neighbors, steel enthusiasts and Big Ten sports fans the chance to watch the Big Ten Football Championship Game from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 2, 2017. The contest is open to all U.S. residents, ages 18 and […]
Trucking associations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico issued a joint statement on Monday supporting an updated NAFTA agreement. The North American truck-transported trade supports tens of thousands of jobs and generates billions in revenue annually, said the statement from the American Trucking Association (ATA), Cámara Nacional del Autotraporte de Carga (CANACAR), and the Canadian […]
Contributed by Justin Philipp, People Area Director, Pacesetter Steel It’s no secret that the steel industry is antiquated. Many times, the processing equipment is older than the operator and the same mills have been opened, closed and renamed time and again. Not only is the steel industry plagued by “old” operations issues, the HR issues […]
Construction job creation in September was muted due to the recent hurricanes, said the Associated General Contractors of America in an analysis released by the Labor Department on Friday. Twenty-six states added construction jobs between August and September, while 35 states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between September 2016 and September 2017. […]
John Ferriola, chairman, president and CEO of Nucor Corp., has been named vice chairman of the World Steel Association board of directors. Ferriola will serve a one-year term with the Brussels-based trade association. Named as chairman of the worldsteel board was Kosei Shindo, president of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals Corp. Ohjoon Kwon, CEO of […]
Late this afternoon, the Nucor Sheet Group sent a written note to customers advising them of a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase on spot orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel. This follows the announcement by ArcelorMittal USA yesterday, taking spot base prices to $625 per ton on hot rolled and $825 […]
ArcelorMittal USA began advising their customers late on Tuesday (October 17, 2017) of their intention to raise flat rolled steel base prices. In an internal memo sent to the ArcelorMittal commercial team the mill advised, “All new opportunities for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated sheet products that require delivery in the 4th Quarter of […]
Prior to the ArcelorMittal USA price increase announcement, Steel Market Update analysis of steel prices found flat rolled steel prices continuing their slow slog south (prices are moving lower). The pace has not accelerated, but there are questions as to whether some of the steel mills are cutting “quiet” deals in order to fill their […]
The next Steel 101 steel training workshop will be held in Mobile, Ala., and will include a tour of the SSAB Mobile minimill. Registration is open, and the workshop currently is almost half full. “SMU Steel 101 is a great learning tool for anyone working in the steel industry in any position. I wish I […]
One of the questions we get regularly is what are steel buyers and sellers of steel saying about their business (demand) and inventory levels? Over this past week, Steel Market Update spoke with quite a few companies and asked them how they were seeing business and if their company was building flat rolled or steel […]
CENTRIA, a manufacturer of architectural metal wall and roof systems based in Pittsburgh, announced the addition of Stephan Ploszay to the CENTRIA team as Product Manager, Rainscreen Systems. Ploszay will collaborate with the company’s sales, marketing, and research and development teams to maintain and promote CENTRIA’s MetalWrap™ insulated composite backup panel system, Intercept™ modular metal […]
In response to the recent hike in the cost of graphite electrodes, AK Steel Holding Corp. will implement an electrode surcharge for all stainless product shipments effective Oct 29. The surcharge for November will be $13.20 per ton. The amount will be same for all stainless grades produced by the company. The monthly electrode surcharge […]
Among the many hot-button issues facing the steel industry, ethical business practices is one that is often overlooked. I (John Packard, Publisher of SMU) found out how hot of an issue it can be in a recent exchange with a reader. In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update, I posed the following rhetorical question: […]
No one who has ever toured a steel mill will ever forget it. The sight of the molten metal, and the heat that hits you in the face even from a safe distance away, is both frightening and fascinating. Forty mostly young executives experienced steelmaking firsthand as students in Steel Market Update’s latest Steel 101 […]
ArcelorMittal reports that a portion of its mill in Calvert, Ala., suffered minor damage over the weekend due to a small, localized tornado related to Hurricane Nate. The company halted production on Friday night for safety reasons, but resumed operations Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported, and there was no damage to production lines or […]
Negotiations in the steel business can often become contentious as both parties seek to win the best price and terms. Some experts say ethical negotiating is not only the right thing to do, it’s also more likely to achieve the desired outcome. As academics Reitz, Wall & Love wrote, unethical bargaining can reap one-time benefits, […]
The construction industry added 8,000 jobs in September for its highest level since 2008, but could have hired even more if qualified workers were available, said the Associated General Contractors of America. Construction unemployment was 4.7 percent in September, its lowest September rate since 2000, said AGC. Average hourly earnings have increased 3 percent from […]
The Associated General Contractors of America urged Congress and the Trump administration to include new spending as part of the tax reform proposal to reverse declining infrastructure investment. New investments will offset declining public sector demand and help boost overall economic activity, said AGC. “It is hard for American employers to be globally competitive when […]
The next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making and Market Fundamentals workshop will be held Jan. 24-25, 2018, in Mobile, Ala. The two-day workshop will include a tour of the SSAB minimill. The conference will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Mobile West. Our Steel 101 workshop has been well-received by the industry. Those […]
Big River Steel presented a check for $50 million to Arkansas Governer Asa Hutchinson for full repayment of a loan from the State of Arkansas—and did it 17 years early. The early repayment of this $50 million loan is a strong indication of the financial strength of Big River Steel and reaffirms my confidence in […]
Consumer confidence took a hit in the storm-affected regions of the South, but overall remains at high levels, which is positive news for the U.S. economy. “Consumer confidence decreased slightly in September after a marginal improvement in August,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, an independent business research association based […]
Construction employment increased in 274 out of 358 metro areas between August 2016 and August 2017, declined in 52 and stagnated in 32, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that the construction job gains come even as 70 percent of […]
The New York chapter of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) will be suspended at the end of this year due to declining membership. Members are encouraged to continue their association membership as an unaffiliated member or associating with another chapter. A final holiday party/membership appreciation meeting is planned for December with […]
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index gained 5.9 percent in July following a 5.8 percent gain in June. The 20-City Composite posted a 5.8 percent year-over-year gain in the latest report, up from 5.6 percent the previous month. A modest inventory is allowing sellers to boost prices as competition for available […]
A contractor at Nucor Steel in Decatur, Ala., died at the mill on Saturday afternoon after falling into a vat containing waste product from finished rolled steel. Nucor issued the following statement from Mike Lee, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Decatur: “Nucor Steel Decatur and Atlantic Recovery Services, Inc., a specialized industrial […]
An explosion at the Gerdau long products steel mill in Wilton, Iowa, injured three employees and a contractor on Wednesday night. The incident occurred in the facility’s melt shop and resulted in temporary suspension of operations. Gerdau Ameristeel is working with authorities to investigate and determine the cause of the explosion. “Gerdau’s priority is attending […]
The United Steelworkers union is calling for the United States to negotiate stronger NAFTA rules of origin. The union charges that the rules negotiated more than 25 years ago do not reflect current economic reality and sourcing patterns. Increased imported content from China and other nations has been detrimental to U.S. production in North America, […]
Steel Market Update is working on a new index to measure flat rolled steel inventories in service center warehouses at the end of each month. Our goal is to assist the flat rolled steel industry to better understand inventories and their potential impact on steel mill order books and lead times. SMU will also analyze […]
ArcelorMittal is not expecting a big bump in business anytime soon due to the hurricane damage in Texas and the Southeast. “That will take a while to pass through,” said Wendell Carter, vice president and general manager of the steelmaker’s Indiana Harbor mill. Carter responded to questions during a media tour of the East Chicago, […]
Nucor is checking out five states in the Midwest and Southeast as potential sites for a new steel bar micro mill project. Locations in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Florida are under consideration. The board of directors also approved an expansion of Nucor’s existing merchant bar operations in either Illinois or Ohio. The new […]