United Steelworkers at ArcelorMittal Mines and Infrastructure Canada went on strike Monday night after rejecting a May 7 offer by the company. The strike by 2,500 employees could have a “serious economic impact on the economy of the Côte-Nord and Quebec,” said Quebec Labor Minister Jean Boulet. ArcelorMittal and the USW executives of the five […]
U.S. Steel’s surprise decision to pull the plug on the $1.5-billion upgrade at its Mon Valley Works pleased environmental advocates but came as a serious blow to the economic environment in the Pittsburgh area. Government officials, unions and citizen groups cried foul over what they see as the loss of thousands of jobs from a […]
Record-high steel prices result not from Section 232 tariffs or industry consolidation but instead from uniquely strong supply-demand fundamentals, Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive said. And an ambitious infrastructure package would go a long way toward keeping those fundamentals, and the resulting investment in the domestic steel industry, stronger for longer, he suggested. “We in this country […]
Steel Market Update has revised its blast furnace status chart to reflect that two furnaces at Cleveland-Cliffs’ Indiana Harbor steelmaking complex in East Chicago, Ind., have been razed. The No. 5 and No. 6 blast furnaces have not been operated since 2010, were decommissioned in 2015 and have since been demolished, a spokeswoman for the […]
Olympic Steel kept the momentum going at the start of 2021, achieving its most profitable first quarter ever and third best quarter overall in the company’s history. Despite supply/demand challenges, Olympic recorded record net sales of $463 million due to higher metals pricing. Net income was $22 million, a big improvement from $600,000 in Q1 […]
U.S. Steel has left open the possibility of moving its endless casting and rolling project–initially slated for its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania–elsewhere. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker declined to say what equipment it had in hand and where it might be able to relocate it. “We do not have any information beyond what has already been […]
ArcelorMittal’s joint venture AMNS Calvert ran at near capacity in the first quarter of 2021, delivering record first-quarter results. Hot strip mill production jumped 19.3% to 1.3 million metric tons from the fourth quarter. EBITDA nearly tripled to $159 million from $56 million in the prior quarter. The mill is currently supplied with slab sourced […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco is seeing the impact of its upgraded smart blast furnace, reporting production records and higher profit in the first quarter due to higher steel prices and increased value-added shipments of cold rolled and coated products. Compared to the previous quarter, revenue increased 57%, shipments jumped 38% and operating income soared a whopping […]
Ryerson’s first-quarter profits expanded despite an “extreme commodity environment” thanks to strong demand, higher selling prices and the sale of a facility in Washington. And the Chicago-based metals service center thinks the black ink will flow into the second quarter as well. “At this point in the second quarter, demand fundamentals have continued to improve […]
Nucor plans to spend $58 million to upgrade its engineered bar mill in Norfolk, Neb., with the aim of increasing sales to the automotive industry. The modernization project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022, the electric-arc furnace steelmaker said. The scope of work will include adding a new reheat furnace, […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) is increasing freight rates by 5-13% because of a shortage of flatbed trucks. The freight surcharge is effective immediately, and the exact amount varies by region, the West Coast slab converter said in a letter to customers Tuesday, May 4. “Transportation costs are rapidly increasing and are expected to continue to […]
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco swung to a profit in the first quarter and expects high steel prices and sales volumes to galvanize results for the balance of the year. “All signs point to continued robust demand and strong pricing in the near term,” Stelco Executive Chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum said in a statement released […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc (ATI) will produce hot rolled coils from slabs produced at JSW Steel USA’s mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, under a toll rolling agreement just signed between the two producers. Under the long-term agreement, a significant portion of the slabs produced in the JSW Mingo Junction melt shop will be converted to coils at […]
Long products steelmaker Gerdau has completed the installation and cold commissioning of the rolling mill upgrade at its structural steel mill in Petersburg, Va. The $33 million project–originally slated for completion by late 2020 but delayed due to the impact of COVID-19–has also begun initial hot rolling trials, a company spokesperson confirmed. The project involved […]
U.S. Steel has commenced a 25-day maintenance outage at the No. 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania. Steel Market Update has updated its blast furnace status chart to reflect the development. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said on its first quarter earnings call on Friday, April 30, that it had begun the […]
In a surprise announcement, U.S. Steel said it is canceling the endless casting and cogeneration project at Mon Valley Works. The company has already spent $170 million on the $1.3 billion project. “This is not the end of Mon Valley,” President and CEO David Burritt emphasized during the first quarter earnings call on Friday. The […]
U.S. Steel swung to a profit in the first quarter on higher steel prices and strong results from electric-arc furnace (EAF) producer Big River Steel. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker recorded a $91-million profit in the first quarter of 2021 versus a $391-million loss in the same quarter of 2020 on revenue that jumped 33.1% to $3.66 […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc. posted a net loss of $7.9 million in the first quarter, with a slight recovery in jet engine production. First-quarter 2021 results are a vast improvement from the adjusted net loss of $41.9 million in the prior quarter, but a far cry from the pre-pandemic net income of $21.1 million in Q1 […]
Steel tube producer Tenaris saw global sales increase 5% sequentially to $1.18 billion in the first quarter of 2021, but results were still down 33% year-over-year. An 8% increase in volumes was offset by a 5% decrease in selling prices. Sales jumped 31% in North America as drilling activity picked up during the first quarter. […]
Ternium has strong confidence in the growth potential for the Mexican steel industry. Despite a poor performance by the government in helping the economy recover from the impact of the pandemic, CEO Maximo Vedoya expects the industrial base will continue to grow. One of the drivers will be reshoring of the supply base, which will […]
SSAB Americas reported lower shipments of 480,000 metric tons in the first quarter of 2021 despite strong demand for heavy plate in North America. Due to weather issues in February and lower slab inventories at the beginning of the quarter, shipments fell 16% from the previous quarter and 9% compared to Q1 2020. Higher steel […]
Australian steel producer BlueScope has raised its earnings guidance for 2H FY2021 to an earnings range between AUD $1 billion and $1.8 billion from the previous range of $750 million to $830 million. The boost in earnings is due in large part to the performance of North Star BlueScope, the company’s U.S. division in Ohio. HRC […]
Ternium remains on track to start up its new hot strip mill in Pesquería, outside of Monterrey, Mexico, on time, according to industry sources. The Latin American steelmaker has indicated that it expects to start up by early June and has already filled its June and July order books, market participants said. Ternium did not […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) union and Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) appear to be far from making a deal as a strike against the company enters its fourth week. The USW says ATI is under pressure because it finds itself unable to fulfill existing customer orders a result of the labor action. An ATI spokeswoman said the company is […]
Integrated steelmaker U.S. Steel Corp. announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2050, on top of its existing goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 20% across the company’s global footprint by 2030. The use of electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) and other advanced technologies will be crucial to achieving such significant carbon emission reductions, the […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects historically high steel prices and record profits to continue for the balance of the year. The integrated steelmaker forecasts that U.S. hot-rolled coil prices will average $1,100 per ton for the remaining three quarters the year, according to guidance released with first quarter earnings data on Thursday, April 22. That’s 21.5% below SMU’s […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects historically high steel prices and record profits to continue for the balance of the year. The integrated steelmaker forecasts that U.S. hot-rolled coil prices will average $1,100 per ton for the remaining three quarters the year, according to guidance released with first quarter earnings data on Thursday, April 22. That’s 21.5% below SMU’s […]
Nucor posted its best quarter ever with net earnings of $942.4 million in first-quarter 2021. Net sales soared 33% to $7.02 billion in the quarter on higher steel prices and shipments. “The first quarter of 2021 was the most profitable quarter in our company’s history. We are clearly reaping the rewards from our prior investments […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is running all eight of its active blast furnaces and has no plans to take significant downtime in the second quarter, the company’s top executive said. “We do not have any major outages scheduled in Q2. We are focused on getting steel out the door,” Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is running all eight of its active blast furnaces and has no plans to take significant downtime in the second quarter, the company’s top executive said. “We do not have any major outages scheduled in Q2. We are focused on getting steel out the door,” Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]