Steelworkers in Lorain, Ohio are having a dismal start to 2016. In addition to this week’s announcement by Republic Steel that it would idle operations at its rolling mill, US Steel confirmed layoffs are coming to Lorain Tubular. A union official reports 261 workers at US Steel’s Lorain Tubular Operations will be laid off beginning […]
Nucor announced it will resume operations at its direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in Louisiana at the end of January. Operations were suspended at the end of last year due to market conditions following a scheduled maintenance outage. The company said in a statement: “Nucor’s raw materials strategy is built on flexibility, with the company […]
USW and ArcelorMittal resumed contract talks this week in Pittsburgh. The negotiating committees first met in June 2015 and USW members have been working under a contract extension since Sept 1. Mark Glyptis, president of the United Steelworkers Local 2911 in Weirton said he is hopeful that a settlement will be reached soon. “This has […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has completed the acquisition of Tubular Steel, Inc., effective Jan. 1. TSI is a distributor and producer of carbon, alloy and stainless steel pipe, tubing and bar products. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., and ships from its seven U.S. service centers more than 2 million custom-cut lengths […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
The negotiating committee at US Steel reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract on Saturday, Dec. 19. Although terms of the contract will not be officially released until after ratification, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained a copy and revealed some of the content. The new contract references slowdowns for the company including those at […]
US Steel Canada is doing better than expected despite still losing money. According to the 18th Monitor’s report for the CCAA protected company, November’s operation loss was $5.8 million, about half the forecast of $11 million. Operational loss year to date (as of November 30) was $109.4 million. Net loss for the eleven months was […]
US Steel Corp announced it will postpone construction of the electric arc furnace at its Fairfield Works operation in Alabama due to “continued challenging market conditions in both the oil and gas and steel industries.” The $230 million EAF was scheduled for completion next year, giving US Steel the flexibility of its first EAF. The […]
The USW and US Steel reached a tentative agreement late Saturday on a new contract for the more than 18,000 workers at US Steel’s flat-rolled, tubular and iron ore mining facilities in the United States. “This tentative agreement represents a major step forward from the position we found ourselves in earlier this summer when we […]
SMU anticipates that with US Steel and the USW coming to a tentative agreement that it is only a matter of time before the ArcelorMittal negotiations will also come to a resolution, most likely very similar to the one negotiated at USS. The union has not yet voted on the USS package and, if there […]
The National Labor Relations Board has sided with workers from Allegheny Technologies that have accused the company of illegal labor practices after a lockout was initiated on August 15. The NLRB on Friday said it would file a complaint against ATI that will be heard before an administrative law judge in Pittsburgh. “The determination was […]
AK Steel joins other steelmakers in reporting reduced shipment volumes for fourth quarter. In its guidance report, the company says it expects shipments of approximately 1.6 million tons, down 14 percent from Q3. The decrease is a result of reduced sales in the carbon steel spot market due to the adverse impact of pricing from […]
December 16, 2015 – ArcelorMittal today announces that Lou Schorsch, 66, senior executive vice president, member of the Group Management Board and CEO of ArcelorMittal Americas will retire from the company, effective end of February 2016. Mr. Schorsch joined the company in 2003 as CEO of Ispat Inland. Going forward it has been decided to […]
Worthington Industries posted net sales of $699.8 million and net earnings of $23.2 million for second quarter 2016 ending November 30, 2015. CEO John McConnell called it a “solid performance for the quarter in the face of some market weakness.” Sales were down 19.7 percent compared to the prior year’s second quarter as result of […]
Nucor is expecting weaker financial results in fourth quarter. Operating performance in the steel mill segment was down from third quarter, especially at sheet and bar mills, as lower selling prices outpaced the decline in raw materials pricing. “This performance is due to continued deterioration in global steel markets amplified by global excess capacity and […]
SSAB expects to report lower earnings for fourth quarter due to decreased volumes and falling prices in Europe and North America but is looking forward to better market conditions in Q1. Market conditions have deteriorated further than expected from the previous forecast for fourth quarter. Plate and strip market prices fell sharply during the quarter […]
Steel Dynamics expects reduced profitability from its steel operations in fourth quarter compared to third. Lower steel shipments, customer destocking and seasonal demand weakness are impacting the steel platform and, in particular, commodity grade hot roll products. Lower steel pricing will offset any benefits from lower ferrous scrap costs. Fabricated steel joist and decking products […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released shipment and inventory data for U.S. steel distributors. The headline for total steel products is shipments fell during the month of November both on a month over month basis (143,100 tons per day in November vs. 152,900 tons during October) as well as on a year-over-year basis (-8.1%). […]
USS/Posco (UPI) and California Steel both sent out letters over the past few working days advising their customers of their intention to raise prices on spot flat rolled orders. On December 11, 2015 USS/Posco sent out a letter announcing $40 per ton. On Monday, December 14, 2015 California Steel Industries (CSI) opened their February order […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of November were 399,000 net tons, a decrease of 5.5 percent from the month before and decrease of 11.3 percent from November 2014. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,286,400 tons, down 5.1 percent from last month and down 19.1 percent from the […]
Union workers at Allegheny Technologies have been locked out of the company for more than four months after balking at concessions in the company’s final proposal. The lockout was an insult to USW workers who agreed to earlier concessions to bring a $1.2 billion steel rolling mill to Brackenridge, Pa. The mill was considered vital […]
AK Steel plans to begin layoffs at its plant in Ashland, Ky., during the week of Christmas. Scott Conley, President of USW Local 1865 said 615 to 620 people will be laid off and everyone should be out of the hot end of the plant by December 31. AK Steel executives blame the layoffs on […]
Allegheny Technologies announced it will take rightsizing actions to align its Flat Rolled Products operations to challenging market conditions. The standard stainless melt shop and sheet finishing operations at the Midland, Pa., facility will be idled in January 2016. The grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) operations in Bagdad, Pa., will be idled by April 2016. Restart […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 482,000 tons in November to 2.728 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were down by two from October. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 145,900 […]
The United Steelworkers Bargaining Committee will return to Pittsburgh to review a new comprehensive contract proposal received from US Steel. Discussions during the past six months have bogged down over health care concessions that the company says are necessary to stay competitive under challenging market conditions. The Bargaining Committee plans to resume discussions next week […]
Layoffs at US Steel Granite City Works are expected to begin December 27, according to reports by USW leaders in the Dec. 10 Bellville News-Democrat. US Steel announced in October that it was considering idling the steel plant in Granite City and issued WARN notices to over 2000 workers. Shortly before Thanksgiving the company confirmed […]
Nucor Steel lost again its challenge to Big River Steel’s air permit. In its latest appeal, Nucor argued that the air permit process was flawed and that not enough consideration was given to pollution that Big River Steel would generate. An Arkansas Court of Appeals said on Wednesday that it found no abuse of discretion […]
A Delaware judge invalidated a patent by ArcelorMittal in a ruling favoring AK Steel in a dispute that has been ongoing for almost six years. The original suit, filed in January 2010 by ArcelorMittal, claimed that AK Steel’s lightweight, high-strength steel Ultralume, used in automotive applications, violated ArcelorMittal’s 2001 patent (patent 6,296,805—referred to as ‘805) […]
The following article was written by Xavier Boucherat and appeared in the Q4 2015 issue of Automotive Megatrends Magazine and is being reprinted by Steel Market Update with permission. It may be lighter, but aluminium is fundamentally a quick fix, and OEMs currently using aluminium will convert those parts back to steel to reduce mass […]