Algoma Steel has struck an arc at its second ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF), a move expected to increase capacity by approximately 100,000 tons per year, the company said. The second LMF – officially No.2 LMF – has annual capacity of 2.1 million tons and complements the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker’s No.1 LMF. The addition of a second LMF […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its May order booked for flat-rolled steel just a week after opening it. “We want to thank you for your continued support during these difficult times. … We will contact you when we open the Flat Rolled order book for June,” CSI said in a Feb. 23 letter to […]
Nucor is expanding its value-added portfolio with the addition of a new TrueCore manufacturing facility. The company plans to build a 120,000-square-foot facility in Brigham City, Utah, that will manufacture insulated wall and roof panels. TrueCore was acquired by Nucor in 2019 and is part of Nucor’s Buildings Group. The Brigham facility will be the […]
United Steelworkers union members will vote March 1 on whether to ratify a tentative contract agreement covering NLMK USA’s operations in western Pennsylvania, a union official said. USW District 10 Staff Representative Todd Clary confirmed the date next Monday. He declined additional comment until after the vote. NLMK USA President and CEO Robert D. Miller also confirmed […]
North Star BlueScope continues to be a strong segment for Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel. North Star BlueScope shipped 1,024,700 metric tons of steel in the first half of fiscal year 2021 for revenue of U.S. $569 million, up slightly from $557 million in the second half of FY 2020. The U.S. division ran at full […]
Nucor’s tubular products group has increased prices for hollow structural sections (HSS), pipe, mechanical and piling products by $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt). The move is effective immediately and is necessary because of “rising raw material costs, strong demand, and volatile transportation costs,” Nucor said in a Feb. 19 letter to customers. Orders booked prior to […]
AM/NS Calvert has broken ground for construction of a $775 million electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its slab conversion mill in Alabama. The new EAF, to have a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year, is expected to come online in the first half of 2023, AM/NS Calvert CEO Jorge Oliveria said in a statement. The […]
At least two major Mexican flat-rolled steel producers–Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) and Ternium México–have cut production in response to power outages and natural gas shortages, according to mill communications. That development–along with transportation and production snarls at multiple flat-rolled mills in the southern United States–means the North American steel market might be short tens […]
“Extraordinary challenges on a global scale” is how Reliance Steel & Aluminum CEO Jim Hoffman characterized 2020 during the service center’s conference call this week. However, Hoffman was optimistic about the new year, “As I continue to say, America is going to need Reliance in order to rebuild.” In the fourth quarter, Reliance sales fell […]
Stelco management presented an optimistic outlook for the Canadian mill in 2021. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 79 percent from the third quarter to CAD $424 million on higher steel pricing and increased volume. Shipments rose 46 percent sequentially to 489,000 net tons. Shipments are expected to jump another 35 percent in the first quarter of 2021. Stelco […]
NLMK USA has reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers at its operations in western Pennsylvania, according to both company and union leaders. If ratified, the pact would bring an end to a strike that began nearly six months ago. “We reached a tentative agreement today. … We are optimistic that today’s actions will […]
Nucor has increased spot flat-rolled steel prices for some buyers by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), according to market participants. The electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker is quoting certain customers $1,240 per ton for April hot-rolled coil, up from $1,200 previously, sources said. What’s less clear is how many spot tons are available for purchase. Spot tonnage, which […]
AM/NS Calvert has quietly increased prices for new spot orders by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), according to market participants. The move–which was effective on Feb. 16 but not widely announced–will see base prices for hot-rolled coil increase from $1,160 per ton to $1,200 per ton, sources said. Base prices for cold-rolled and coated products will […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has opened its May order book, and the West Coast slab converter has also increased prices, according to market participants. “The purpose of this letter is to inform you that CSI’s May flat rolled order book is now open,” the company said in a Feb. 16 letter to customers. The letter […]
NLMK USA sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased 1% from the third quarter to 370,000 metric tons. Sales plummeted 22% from a year ago due to low capacity utilization at NLMK Pennsylvania attributed to the ongoing strike and a shortage of slabs for duty-free import. Rolling capacity utilization at the U.S. segment was […]
Big River Steel continues to hold an option to purchase land at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, where the steelmaker has said it was considering building a second electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel mill. “They still have the option. It’s moving at a slow pace. But we’re still in frequent discussions,” Port of Brownsville Senior Director […]
After divesting most of its U.S. assets to Cleveland-Cliffs, ArcelorMittal is now focused on strategic growth, controlling costs and leading the industry on sustainability, the steelmaker claims. The company is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 and looks forward to commissioning its Smart Carbon steelmaking technologies in Ghent in 2022. ArcelorMittal achieved its first sales for […]
Aditya Mittal will become the next chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, taking over from his father, Lakshmi Mittal, who founded the company in 1976. The elder Mittal will become executive chairman of the steelmaker, where he will remain in charge of the board of directors and continue to work with senior management, including his son, ArcelorMittal […]
Nucor expects to generate record net earnings, exceeding $900 million, for the first quarter of 2021. The company cites strong business conditions across its end-use markets. “We are encouraged by positive economic trends and the robust demand we are seeing across our markets,” said President and CEO Leon Topalian. “We currently expect our first-quarter 2021 […]
North Star BlueScope will take a planned outage in April at its flat-rolled steel mill in Delta, Ohio, a company spokesman said. The company normally has outages in the spring and fall. The outages will be 3-7 days in duration, he said. This year North Star BlueScope will split the spring outage between April and June […]
Nucor is investing to grow in capability not capacity, said Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian in remarks Tuesday during the virtual Tampa Steel Conference, co-hosted by Steel Market Update. “It’s not about tons and volume, but about servicing customers’ long-term needs,” he said. One growing customer segment for Nucor is the auto industry. Nucor […]
Nucor is investing to grow in capability not capacity, said Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian in remarks Tuesday during the virtual Tampa Steel Conference, co-hosted by Steel Market Update. “It’s not about tons and volume, but about servicing customers’ long-term needs,” he said. One growing customer segment for Nucor is the auto industry. Nucor […]
NLMK USA and striking United Steelworkers at the mill’s operations in western Pennsylvania remain at loggerheads nearly five and a half months after the labor action began. “As of now, we remain far apart with the union. We continue to meet in good faith working towards a resolution,” NLMK USA President and CEO Robert D. Miller said […]
It might be T-shirt weather before steel buyers in Canada have access to spot tons of sheet and plate, according to market participants. The three main Canadian sheet suppliers–Algoma, Stelco and ArcelorMittal Dofasco–are largely sold out through May and are in some cases out as far as June. And when it comes to plate, Canada’s […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. has been recognized by Fortune as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies in 2021, as well as ranking as the No. 1 best-regarded company in the metals industry. “We are honored by this recognition,” said Mark D. Millett, SDI president and chief executive officer. “Our recognition is testimony to the extraordinary passion […]
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has written letters to the CEOs of Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel asking for their cooperation in ensuring the future of iron ore taconite operations—Minntac and Hibbing Taconite. The facilities are critical to the Iron Range economy and employ over 1,700 workers combined. In his letters Monday to Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves […]
U.S. Steel does not plan to build additional electric-arc furnace capacity for the “foreseeable future,” company executives said. The company also plans to keep the “A” blast furnace at its Granite City Works in southern Illinois idled, they suggested. U.S. Steel acquired two flat-rolled EAFs when it closed its deal for Big River Steel’s mill […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB navigated a difficult year in 2020, taking down production and idling blast furnaces due to lower demand and COVID-19 restrictions. “Looking back at it, I think our flexibility in the system has served us well because when the market started to recover in Q4, we were quite fast to adapt to that […]
“What a difference a quarter can make,” exclaimed U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt during the opening of the fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call. The company posted positive net earnings of $49 million following a net loss of $234 million in the third quarter and a net loss of $688 million in Q4 2019. Net […]
JSW Steel USA has opened the March order book at its flat-rolled steel mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio. “We will restart in March…. The March order book is open,” JSW Steel USA CEO Mark Bush said in emails to Steel Market Update. The Ohio mill will sell both hot-rolled coil and slab, he said. Bush confirmed […]