The following information is from the United States Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs concerning an accident at US Steel Fairfield in September 2014. Steel Market Update spoke to the U.S. Department of Labor who told us that the press release was not unusually harsh and the Labor Department was going with “narrative releases” […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $804.8 million and a net loss of $25.7 million for the third quarter of FY 2015 ending February 28, 2015. Results included a non-cash impairment charge of $81.6 million related to the Engineered Cabs business and a USD 2.3 million restructuring charge for severance benefits related to the workforce […]
This morning Steel Market Update (SMU) participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The conference call is for those HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada. Since the last conference call held during the later days in February, galvanized […]
ArcelorMittal Cleveland is planning several maintenance outages over the next few months. A vessel reline at No. 1 basic oxygen furnace (BOF) begins on March 23 and will be completed by the middle of second quarter. The No. 1 steel producing facility will continue operations with one vessel throughout the outage period. The C-5 blast […]
Nucor Corporation plans to take the battle against construction of Big River Steel another step. Attorneys for Nucor filed a notice that it will appeal the dismissal of its lawsuit against Big River Steel. On February 25, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes ruled that Nucor’s lawsuit was invalid under the citizen lawsuit provision of the […]
Unfairly traded imports are negatively impacting AK Steel earnings in the first quarter of 2015. AK Steel expects a net loss of $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share in the first quarter due to low carbon steel shipment and spot prices as a result of “unexpectedly” high levels of imports. Shipments are expected to decrease […]
Dutch company HPK Engineering has been awarded a 3-year management contract for Serbian steel mill Zelezara Smederevo. After nearly a year of negotiations with the Serbian government US-based Esmark was pushed out of the running for purchase and management of the state-owned steel mill. HPK Engineering pledged to invest $20 million in the plant to […]
US Steel announced today it will move forward with two capital projects at Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Alabama. The announcement follows approval by Jefferson County commissioners for more than $14 million in tax abatements on the two investments over the next 10 years. The projects planned for Fairfield Works are a $230 million electric arc […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in February decreased by 182,800 tons to 3.185 million tons. Shipping days at 20 were one less than February. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 160,400 in January to 159,300 in February. In the eleven years since 2004 February shipments on average have been 0.1 […]
Steel Dynamics expects that a decline in steel shipments caused by inventory overhang, hesitant demand and margin compression will lower first quarter profitability. In the company’s first quarter guidance, SDI noted: “During the first quarter of 2015, two important industry developments occurred: – “Domestic steel product pricing declined to levels that are now globally competitive, […]
According to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. service centers shipped 3,332,300 tons of all steel products during the month of February 2015. The daily shipment rate was 166,600 tons per day, down 1.4 percent over February 2014 when the daily shipment rate was 169,000 tons. In comparison to the […]
A plan to sell US Steel Canada plants Hamilton and Lake Erie Works will be sent for court approval March 30. The prepared court documents outline a plan for “soliciting interest in and opportunities for a sale, restructuring or recapitalization of the assets and business operations” of US Steel Canada. The two-step sale process involves […]
The United Steel Workers will be negotiating new contracts with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal later this year. The current three-year contracts expire August 31, 2015. Discussions start a few months before and serious bargaining begins about a month before contract expiration, said USW Communications Director Wayne Ranick. Contract negotiations are frequently contentious battles as evidenced […]
US Steel has cut 83 more workers at Gary Works as it adjusts production to respond to market fluctuations. The latest cuts are probationary employees at the Gary Works steel complex who have worked for the company six months or less. US Steel spokesperson Sarah Casella said the layoffs are permanent. “The company routinely adjusts […]
ArcelorMittal is preparing to idle the No 3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor for scheduled stove repair on March 16. The steel making outage is expected to last until late second quarter 2015. A statement received from ArcelorMittal read as follows: “ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor will move forward with a previously scheduled maintenance outage to conduct […]
The domestic steel mills are resorting to adjustments in supply as a weapon against the chronic short lead times which are helping to push flat rolled steel prices lower and lower. The heavy lifting is being done by the integrated steel mills, especially by U.S. Steel which has taken three blast furnaces down over the […]
US Steel operations at Minnesota Ore Operations-Keetac will be temporarily idled as of May 13. The company said the idling is due to “current inventory levels and adjustment of its steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand.” US Steel cited global influences in the market, including unfairly traded imports, as contributors to a […]
Esmark Europe has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Slovakian businessman Peter Kamaras for attempting to undermine Esmark Europe’s bid for Zelezara Smederevo Steel Works. Esmark asserts that Kasmaras aligned himself as an investor and agent with Esmark Europe to gain inside information while simultaneously undermining Esmarks’ bid to privatize Zelezara Smederevo for […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp, the Americas segment of Klockner & Co., posted EBITDA of €19 million ($21 million) for fourth quarter 2014, as compared to €2 million ($2.2 million) year over year. Sales for fourth quarter were €604 million, down from third quarter €634 million ($665 million) but up 16.3 percent y/y. Shipments in fourth quarter […]
US Steel told union workers it will permanently shut down coke-making operations at the Gary Works facility in Indiana. The closure will affect 300 employees and take place in mid May. A US Steel spokesperson said, “This strategic decision was made in light of the company’s long-term coke position and the future anticipated steelmaking operations, […]
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Nucor’s lawsuit against future competitor Big River Steel. U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes said Nucor’s citizen lawsuit is not authorized under the Clean Air Act and the court has no jurisdiction over the case. Nucor argued that Big River steel was violating emission standards by constructing the mill without […]
Olympic Steel reported higher sales volume and demand in fourth quarter 2014, but lower steel prices reduced margins for the quarter and year. Olympic Steel reported consolidated net sales up 12.5 percent for a fourth quarter record of $326.7 million. Full year sales were also a record at $1.4 billion, up 13.7 percent from 2013. […]
U.S. Steel announced the promotion of Colleen M. Darragh to the position of vice president and controller, effective immediately. Darragh will be responsible for the global financial accounting, reporting and analysis functions for the company. Darragh joined U. S. Steel in 2006 as director – external reporting and advanced through a series of increasingly responsible […]
Tenaris announced it will temporarily suspend operations at its welded tubes mill in Conroe, Texas. The shutdown will result in the layoff of approximately 230 employees, effective April 2015. “Record levels of unfairly traded imports of OCTG (oil country tubular goods) from South Korea and the sharp decline in the price of oil and consequential […]
Once a month, HARDI sponsors a galvanized steel conference call with the wholesalers who sell sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors. Steel Market Update (SMU) has participated in these informative discussions for a number of years and they are very useful in our understanding of the ebb and flow of both pricing and […]
With the reset of iron ore and ferrous scrap pricing there is an extraordinary amount of interest in trying to figure out the cost to produce a hot rolled coil at the domestic steel mills. This is a question Steel Market Update is asked on an almost weekly basis. We wrote about the subject recently […]
Worthington Industries Inc. has revised its six month outlook due to falling steel prices and demand. In a Feb. 23 press release, Worthington wrote, “The price of steel has dropped over $100 a ton since mid-December. The amount and speed of the decline was not anticipated. When steel prices fall, the Company typically has higher-priced […]
AK Steel announced it will build a Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio. The 120,000 square foot Center will replace an existing research facility already located in Middletown. The project is estimated at $36 million and will be constructed on a 15 acre site. The Research and Innovation Center will house 75 researchers, scientists […]