Liberty Steel says it will continue to operate its Georgetown facility under “care and maintenance” due to the ongoing challenging market conditions. The company idled Georgetown in April with expectations of reopening in three months. Approximately 130 employees and contractors were laid off. “A skeleton staff will continue to manage the care and maintenance program. […]
World crude steel production declined by 7 percent in June, compared with the same month last year, to a total of approximately 148.3 million metric tons, reported the World Steel Association in Brussels. For the first six months of 2020, global steel production totaled 873.1 million tons, down 6.0 percent year over year as steel […]
Reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the steelmaking process, which remains a very CO2- and energy-intensive activity, calls for a combination of approaches that may vary from nation to nation. “There is no single solution to drastically reducing CO2 emissions from our industry, and we believe that individual countries are best placed to assess and […]
A mass layoff of 454 workers at ArcelorMittal Cleveland is slated to begin on Aug. 1. A WARN notice was sent to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on July 27 informing the state of the impending layoffs, which will include hourly represented as well as certain salaried employees. Said ArcelorMittal in their […]
SSAB Americas’ third-quarter results were impacted by lower prices and volumes, which were somewhat offset by cost savings and lower raw material prices. SSAB Americas posted an operating loss of SEK 10 million ($1.13 million) versus a profit of SEK 106 million ($12 million) in the first quarter. Sales totaled $3.2 billion SEK ($361 million) […]
NLMK USA saw shipments plummet 39 percent quarter-over-quarter to 330,000 metric tons as steel demand dropped in Q2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue fell 37 percent to $238 million. EBITDA was $3 million compared to -$22 million in Q1 and was attributed to “widening of the slabs to rolled product price spread” as well […]
India-based steelmaker JSW Steel posted its first loss in six years in Q1 of FY 2021 after what it called “formidable challenges” related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarter was marked by “disrupted supply chains, unparalleled drop in demand and activity levels in the domestic markets, uncertainty in seamless inbound and outbound logistics movement, and liquidity […]
Investigations are under way into the cause of an accident at ArcelorMittal’s Indiana Harbor mill in East Chicago, Ind., that claimed the life of a 71-year-old worker who was struck by a coil tractor on Tuesday. ArcelorMittal offered condolences to the family of George Salinas of Gary, Ind. “We are deeply troubled by today’s incident […]
U.S. Steel plans to restart the No. 8 blast furnace at Gary Works on Aug. 1 in response to improved demand from automotive and other sectors. The 1.2-million-ton furnace was idled in April. “Gary Works is restoring this capacity to satisfy the very strong demand we are seeing from key contract customers with the reemergence […]
Nucor surprised analysts with earnings significantly higher than expected for the second quarter of 2020. Earnings for Q2 totaled $108.9 million or $0.36 per diluted share despite Nucor’s own guidance for $0.10-0.15 per share and analyst forecasts of $0.12 to $0.14. The company admits poor forecasting ability resulted in the welcome discrepancy, along with strategic […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum, the industry’s largest service center organization, is expecting a slight increase in demand during the third quarter of 2020 after sales dropped 21.5 percent from the first to the second quarter to $2.02 billion. Shipments for the second quarter declined 17.5 percent to 1.2 million tons with an average selling price […]
The trough for steel volume, particularly for flat rolled steel, has passed and the second half looks promising, said Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millett. Back orders are strong and order intake rates have picked up due to increasing demand as businesses resume operations following COVID-19 shutdowns. “It is still not possible to determine the full […]
Wholesalers who sell galvanized steel products to the HVAC sector remain surprisingly upbeat, despite weak steel prices and uncertain demand due to the coronavirus. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International said they are benefiting from some pent-up demand, especially in the Northeast where state and […]
Wholesalers who sell HVAC and galvanized steel products to the construction sector report a market that is sharply split. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) said demand from residential building is surprisingly healthy despite the coronavirus pandemic, while nonresidential/commercial construction is weakening. “I have […]
Australian steel producer BlueScope expects strong financial results for the second half of FY2020 ending June 30. “Some BlueScope businesses have been impacted by government mandated and customer closures, but in general business conditions have been better than expected – driven primarily by continuing building and construction demand in key markets,” said the company in […]
JSW Steel USA Ohio confirmed it will temporarily idle its operations at Mingo Junction due to weak market demand. Employee layoffs are scheduled for July and August with workers to be called back once market conditions improve and operations resume. “Unfortunately, market conditions in carbon flat rolled steel consuming sectors have deteriorated further since we […]
No one was injured in an explosion at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor on Thursday morning, which caused damage to the mill’s “D” blast furnace. A spokesperson for ArcelorMittal said the explosion and resulting fire was caused by a stove dome failure and the furnace was safely taken offline. Burns Harbor Fire and EMS, along with the […]
NLMK Group reported a 2 percent year-over-year increase in sales during the second quarter of 2020 for total sales of 4.4. million metric tons. The increase was attributed to higher exports of slab and pig iron. Sales declined 3 percent from Q1 2020. Overall steel output declined to 3.9 million tons as a result of […]
Chicago-based Feralloy Corp. plans to locate a $17.5 million processing facility on Nucor Steel’s Gallatin campus in Kentucky. The company will lease a 60,000-square-foot facility and purchase steel coils directly from Nucor for further processing. The Gallatin site will service customers in the Ohio Valley and eastern U.S. and create 30 jobs. According to the […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. expects a net loss of between $26 million and $28 million for the second quarter of 2020. In earnings guidance issued July 13, Ryerson said revenue will be in the range of $765 million to $775 million. “Early indications for the third quarter are seeing a continuation of the recovery initiated in […]
Air Liquide, a supplier of industrial gases, plans to invest more than $100 million to upgrade and extend its Gulf Coast pipeline by 28 miles to serve Steel Dynamics, Inc.’s planned minimill in Sinton, Texas. Under the agreement with SDI, Air Liquide will install a new Air Separation Unit with the capacity to produce more […]
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), a manufacturing and technology alliance devoted to promoting manufacturing innovation, has announced a $28.8 million collaborative funding effort to support nine cutting-edge Canadian projects, including one at ArcelorMittal Dofasco. NGen runs Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, a government initiative begun in 2018 that pledged up to $950 million to match private […]
For the second year in a row, Nucor Corp. was recognized as a General Motors Supplier of the Year during a virtual ceremony on June 24. Less than 1 percent of GM’s suppliers receive this award. Nucor remains the only electric arc furnace steelmaker to get this recognition. Supplier of the Year award winners were […]
SSAB’s Montpelier, Iowa, steel mill will begin a four-week outage starting on June 27. The downtime is for planned bi-annual maintenance, said a spokesperson for the company. SSAB Americas operates two scrap-based electric arc furnaces, one at Montpelier and the other in Mobile, Ala., with a combined annual production capacity of 2.4 million tons. In […]
Worthington Industries will start its fiscal year 2021 under the leadership of Andy Rose as president and chief executive officer. Rose will succeed John P. McConnell who will remain with the company as executive chairman. The transition is effective Sept. 1. Rose joined Worthington in 2008 as vice president and chief financial officer, helping to […]
AK Steel, a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, was named GM Supplier of the Year for Raw Materials during General Motors’ 28th annual Supplier of the Year Awards June 24. AK Steel was among 116 suppliers recognized by GM for their performance in 2019. The award is reserved for suppliers who meet performance metrics for quality, execution, […]
Worthington Industries faced a challenging quarter as stay-at-home orders and closure of nonessential businesses impacted the markets it serves. Demand levels fluctuated depending on the market with company conditions normal in March, break even in April and profitable in May, albeit at lower levels. Although the economic outlook is still unclear, Worthington expects a return to […]
The Ports of Indiana has been awarded a Marine Highway Grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to develop a steel barge shuttle with Nucor Steel at its Jeffersonville port. The project will allow barge shipments of steel coils from Ghent, Ky., to the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville. The $778,766 project includes the construction […]
PRCO America, Inc., a Chinese company that manufactures refractory brick used by steel mills to line their furnaces and transfer ladles, plans to open their first U.S. facility, in Graves County, Ky., by the end of the year. The western Kentucky location was chosen for its proximity to many steel mills, as well as to […]
Steel Dynamics expects its second-quarter earnings to be significantly lower than first-quarter results. Adjusted earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.40 to $0.44, well below $0.88 per share reported in Q1. The decline in earnings is due to lower steel demand and selling prices attributed to the temporary closures […]