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 […]
World Trade Online reported this morning that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told a U.S. Senator the Section 232 review on steel will not be ready until after tax reform legislation has been completed. This is in line with what President Trump said in July when he told The Wall Street Journal, “We’re waiting till we […]
U.S. Army General Lloyd J. Austin III has been elected to the Nucor board of directors, effective Sept. 18. General Austin, 64, retired as a four-star general in 2016 after nearly 41 years with the U.S. Army. From March 2013 through March 2016, he served as the commander of U.S. Central Command responsible for military […]
The U.S. Commerce Department today announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation on exports of metal tool chests and cabinets from China. Commerce calculated preliminary subsidy rates ranging from 17.32 percent to 32.07 percent. U.S. imports of tool chests and cabinets from China were valued at an estimated $989.9 million in 2016, […]
The U.S. economy should finish 2017 strong, but the leading indicators point to a downturn in the second half of 2018 followed by a mild global recession in 2019, predicts economist Alan Beaulieu, principal of ITR Economics, who addressed a sellout crowd Aug. 30 at Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. “You will […]
Seven out of 10 respondents to the latest Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire feel the United States should not withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Less than 30 percent say the U.S. should follow through on its threats to pull out of the trade pact if it does not win concessions from […]
What happens to all those autos ruined by the double whammy of hurricanes in the South? Cox Automotive estimates 300,000 to 500,000 cars were damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Auto-market researcher Black Book puts the total in Texas closer to one million. And millions more could be added to the toll after Hurricane Irma is tallied. […]
A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. In that case, here are a number of photos from our 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will help those who were unable to attend get a feel for what happened, how many people attended (661 registrations from 309 companies) and the networking that went […]
Millennials are the steel industry’s future and are anxious to solve problems and get results. Attendees who remained for the final presentation at the SMU Steel Summit heard an eye-opening discussion on just what the millennial generation is seeking and how the steel industry can recruit and retain talent from this important demographic. Three young […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, reports that its operations in the Houston area suffered no material damage to facilities, equipment or inventories because of Hurricane Harvey. Many facilities were closed and unable to ship for most of last week due to the catastrophic flooding, but are now reopened and operational. Reliance operates 13 […]
Toronto-based Russel Metals, Inc., has acquired Color Steels, Inc., a service center that processes and distributes pre-painted metals from facilities in Thornhill, Ontario, and Laval, Quebec. David Sanderson will continue as president of Color Steels, along with the current management team. Color Steel’s revenues for the last year totaled approximately $45 million. “This unique opportunity […]
The market’s obsessive speculation over Section 232 and possible new tariffs on steel imports has caused many to miss the big story, said Timna Tanners, research analyst for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Stop worrying about what’s happening in Washington and pay more attention to what’s happening in China,” she told the sellout crowd at […]
Over the past three days, Steel Market Update (SMU) had all hands on deck for our 7th SMU Steel Summit Conference. The conference was once again held at the Georgia International Convention Center next to the Atlanta International Airport. We had record attendance with 661 steel and manufacturing executives registered compared to 434 last year. […]
SMU’s Steel Summit 2017 kicked off its first full day with heartfelt empathy for those colleagues in the Houston region who were unable to make it to the conference in the wake of destruction left by Hurricane Harvey. The devastating floods along the Gulf Coast and in Houston may have a lasting impact on the […]
Tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 28, the steel event of the year will kick off in Atlanta. With over 650 steel and manufacturing executives registered, expectations are for this conference to truly be the most dynamic steel conference in North America for 2017. Welcome to the Steel Market Update Steel Summit Conference. This is what the fuss […]
The 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference Events App is now available for all attendees, sponsors and exhibitors to download and use. The App is where you find all the most up-to-date information about the conference, what you work from to network with other attendees, and what you will use to get the speaker presentations after […]
One of the reasons why the SMU Steel Summit Conference is successful and growing at a time when most conferences are not is due to the options we are given through the support of our sponsors and exhibitors. The cost to put on a three-day conference is truly staggering. Nonetheless, one of our goals has […]
André Gerdau Johannpeter has resigned as the chief executive of Gerdau SA, one of the largest steelmakers in the Americas, as members of the founding family exit from the company’s executive management. Gostavo Werneck, head of Gerdau’s Brazil operations, will replace him in January. Also stepping down from their management roles are Executive Vice-Presidents Claudio […]
Driven by a steep drop-off in shipments from Brazil, U.S. steel imports fell 11.5 percent from June to July. Despite the monthly decline, the 3.47 million net tons of imports were still up 6.3 percent compared to July of last year, reports the American Institute for International Steel, Alexandria, Va. Imports from Brazil plunged more […]
ArcelorMittal’s three plate facilities in the United States—Burns Harbor in Burns Harbor, Ind., and Coatesville and Conshohocken in Pennsylvania—have each achieved DNV-GL certification, which will allow the company to expand business opportunities domestically and internationally for its plate products. DNV-GL (Germanischer Lloyd) is a classification society that sets rules and standards for industries, especially maritime-related […]
There are 307 companies registered to attend this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference which begins next Monday. The conference is SOLD OUT and we apologize to the procrastinators out there as we can no longer accept any new registrations. The companies registered are listed below. Those with a (*) next to the company name means […]
More than a billion dollars of financing is headed to Big River Steel. The Osceola, Ark., steel company announced Thursday that it has closed on $1.225 billion of financing that will be used to refinance a substantial majority of its outstanding debt and for general corporate and working capital purposes. The financing includes $600 million […]
Many Americans see the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a contributing factor to the growth of the U.S. economy over the past 20 years and believe the focus of the NAFTA negotiations should be on modernizing the agreement, not withdrawing from it, according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults commissioned by Livingston […]