ArcelorMittal Mexico has made the first coil from the new hot strip at its steelmaking complex in Lazaro Cardenas, a port city in Mexico’s Michoacan province. Company spokespeople did not respond to requests for confirmation from Steel Market Update. But the moment was celebrated on social media by ArcelorMittal employees and executives. One example: “Congratulations […]
ArcelorMittal Mexico anticipates a run rate of roughly 70% by year’s end at its new hot strip mill in the Michoacan province. Executives lauded the production ramp-up of the new 2.75-million-ton hot strip mill during the company’s earnings call late last week, noting the facility’s output could be around 1.50 to 1.75 million tons in […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its January order book for flat-rolled steel – but doing so took significantly longer than in past months. “We will contact you when we open the flat rolled order book for February 2022,” the Fontana, Calif.-based slab converted said in a letter to customers on Monday, Dec. 13. The company […]
Nucor has acquired a majority stake in California Steel Industries (CSI) for approximately $400 million in a deal that will significantly expand its presence on the West Coast. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker paid that amount for Brazilian iron ore miner Vale’s 50% stake in Fontana, Calif.-based CSI. It also acquired 1% of Japanese steelmaker’s JFE […]
Arkansas lawmakers have introduced a bill that would expand tax credits in a bid to attract U.S. Steel’s planned $3 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet steel mill to the state. And the bill’s lead sponsor, state Sen. Dave Wallace (R), narrowed down potential locations even further. He said tax credits were aimed at convincing the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker to invest its […]
Brazilian iron ore miner Vale is in an “advanced stage of negotiations” to sell its stake in California Steel Industries (CSI), according to an investor day presentation. The presentation did not say which company Vale was in talks with. CSI is a Fontana, Calif.-based slab converter. It is also a 50-50 joint venture between Vale […]
Nucor Corp. plans to build a new, $350 million rebar “micro mill” in the South Atlantic region of the U.S. The new mill is expected to have capacity of 430,000 tons per year, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. “We have recently executed two successful rebar micro mill start-ups and believe the East Coast market will be in […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. has picked Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A (Danieli) as the technology provider for their new electric arc (EAF) steelmaking facility set for operation in early 2024. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker said that Danieli’s systems were the best choice for their new mill as they transition away from basic […]
Worthington Industries Inc. completed its acquisition of Tempel Steel Company, a manufacturer of precision motor and transformer laminations for the electrical steel market. The deal, originally valued around $255 million, expands the Columbus, Ohio-based manufacturer’s steel processing segment in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market. Tempel Steel, headquartered in Chicago and founded 1945, specializes in […]
Algoma Steel Inc. has secured Canadian $220 million (U.S. $172 million) in funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to help pay for its conversion to electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker said the government money would pay for equipment for the project, which carries a total price tag of approximately […]
NLMK USA has resumed production at its electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Portage, Ind., after a planned maintenance outage, according to sources familiar with the matter. The outage at the mill – also known as NLMK Indiana – began earlier this month and had been expected to conclude in about a week. NLMK […]
Nucor Corp. will add a blast and prime line to its greenfield steel plate mill currently under construction in Brandenburg, Ky. The blast and prime line will have an annual capacity of approximately 120,000 tons and will provide the Nucor Plate Group with even broader capabilities and offerings for buyers of wider and thicker plate products. The Charlotte-based steelmaker […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has completed its $775 million acquisition of scrap recycler Ferrous Processing and Trading (FPT). Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the deal could change the way the scrap business has traditionally worked by creating more “closed-loop” transactions. Such deals would mean more scrap – and especially prime scrap, FPT’s specialty – goes […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products to the construction and HVAC sectors still feel very positive about their prospects heading into next year despite weakening prices and rising inventories. Declines in galvanized prices out of the domestic mills have been fairly minor so far and demand remains strong, reported members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & […]
Algoma Steel posted record profits in its fiscal second quarter, and the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker expects money to continue to pour in as high spot prices roll into 2022 contracts. The Sault Ste Marie, Ontario-based company also thinks that the traditional relationship between sheet and plate prices will be restored as infrastructure spending increases demand for […]
The board of Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma has approved the construction of two new electric arc furnaces (EAFs) with combined steelmaking capacity of 3.7 million tons per year. The new EAFs are expected to come online in 2024 and to replace the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based company’s blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces. “We believe […]
ArcelorMital Tubular Products and the United Steelworkers (USW) Union Local #3057 have ended their five-day standoff by agreeing to a new four-year labor contract, a company spokesperson confirmed to Steel Market Update. The new deal – already ratified by the members of the local USW – ensures work can now resume at ArcelorMittal’s tube plant […]
ArcelorMittal recorded it best quarterly earnings performance since 2008 in the third quarter as sharply higher prices offset lower shipment volumes. The shipment declines came partly because of weaker demand and order cancellations from the automotive sector, the company said. The automotive industry has struggled with various supply chain issues, most notably – but not […]
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco posted the highest quarterly profits in its history in the third quarter on strong demand, high prices and increased shipment volumes. And the Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that the momentum would roll into the fourth quarter too. “Once again, our business has demonstrated our ability to take full advantage of strong market conditions […]
NLMK USA is in the middle of an approximately week-long planned outage at its steel mill in Portage, Ind., industry sources said. The outage at the electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill – also known as NLMK Indiana – began on Saturday night and is expected to be wrapped up this weekend. NLMK USA typically […]
Ternium is considering adding a new electric arc furnace to its operations in North America as well as downstream cold rolling and coating capability. That’s according to sources familiar with the matter and as indiciated in recent public comments from company executives. The most likely candidate for any new EAF would be Pesquería, Mexico – […]
BlueScope Steel plans to acquire U.S. ferrous scrap recycler MetalX LLC for $240 million. MetalX is the leading scrap supplier to North Star BlueScope, the Australian steelmaker’s electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Delta, Ohio. The deal is expected to close by the end of December, BlueScope said in a press release. MetalX operates […]
United Steelworkers (USW) members at ArcelorMittal’s tube plant in Shelby, Ohio, have been on strike since midnight on Sunday, according to local media reports. That’s when a four-year labor contract between the Luxembourg-based steelmaker and USW Local 3057 expired. Sticking points in contract talks include time off over holidays as well as pension and health […]
Steel tube producer Tenaris saw global sales jump 15% sequentially to $1.75 billion in the third quarter of 2021, with sales 73% above the same year-ago quarter. The successive increase in Q3 was driven by an 8% increase in volumes, aided by a 6% increase in selling prices. Sales surged by 28% in North America to […]
JSW Steel (USA) Inc. has launched the second phase of a $260 million project aimed at refurbishing its plate mill in Baytown, Texas. The upgrades will allow the Baytown mill to better compete in on- and offshore wind tower, agriculture, construction and storage tank markets as well as in other sectors for which surface finish […]
U.S. Steel has resumed production at its Big River Steel electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Osceola, Ark., following a two-week maintenance outage last month, a company spokeswoman said. The outage had commenced on Oct. 10. SMU has updated its EAF status table to reflect the change. Big River Steel has annual capacity of […]
Ternium reported net earnings of $1.37 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up from $1.16 billion in the the prior quarter and following a loss of $21 million in the third quarter of 2020. The gains resulted from higher steel prices and strong global demand. Shipments were 3.1 million tons in the third quarter, largely unchanged […]
U.S. Steel has completed or has nearly completed two blast furnace outages, a company spokeswoman confirmed. But furnaces that have been idled will remain so, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s top executive said. U.S. Steel has completed an approximately one-week outage on the B blast furnace at its Granite City Works outside of St. Louis, the spokeswoman […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. and Triple M Metal LP have formed a joint venture – ATM Metals Inc. – to source prime scrap and other iron units for the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker. The tie up between Triple M, one of North America’s largest private scrap recyclers, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based Algoma comes as the latter is […]
With record third-quarter earnings of $2 billion in the bank, U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt offered a bullish outlook for the steel industry and his company in 2022. Highlights of the company’s earnings call on Friday included an update on the steelmaker’s progress in finding a site for its new electric arc furnace […]