The Chinese steel industry is often in the news for contributing to severe air pollution but now a Taiwanese-owned steel mill in Vietnam is accused of polluting the ocean and causing a mass fish death. Toxic discharge from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics, is responsible for killing an estimated […]
SAULT STE. MARIE – Essar Steel Algoma Inc. (“Essar Steel Algoma” or the “Company”) obtained an Order today from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice extending the stay of proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to January 31, 2017. The Court further approved an amendment and extension to the existing Debtor-in-Possession financing facility […]
US Steel Canada has moved closer to a resolution of creditor protection proceedings and a sale of the company. The government of Ontario and Bedrock Industries announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the restructuring of US Steel Canada. The MOU terms are confidential but Ontario says it has agreed to support […]
Earlier today Steel Market Update (SMU) participated in the monthly steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The call is for those wholesalers who supply galvanized sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors. During the course of the discussion it became clear that the wholesalers are quite concerned about the drop in galvanized spot prices […]
Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel (WISCO), the fifth and eleventh largest steel manufacturers in the world, are merging to form a new entity, China Baowu Iron and Steel Group. The combination of assets will give the new company an estimated 60 million tons of capacity, placing it as second largest producer behind ArcelorMittal. Both […]
It’s official! On Sunday we reported rumored plans of an expansion at Nucor Steel Arkansas and this afternoon the company made a formal announcement. Nucor’s press release follows: Nucor Corp. announced that it is adding an additional cold mill at its Nucor Steel Arkansas division. The specialty cold mill complex will expand Nucor’s capability to […]
Steel Dynamics expects stronger profits in third quarter due to meaningful metal spread expansion. In the company’s third quarter guidance, SDI said higher steel pricing in Q3 will more than offset higher scrap prices, however, improved margins will be impacted by lower steel shipments across the product platform. Higher earnings for third quarter are driven […]
The week ending September 17, 2016 domestic raw steel production was 1,632,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 69.8 percent. Production was 1,687,000 net tons in the week ending September 17, 2015 while the capability utilization then was 70.5 percent. The current week production represents a 3.3 percent decrease from the same period […]
Steel service centers in the United States shipped a total of 3,378,700 tons of steel (all products) during the month of August, according to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI). The daily shipment rate improved by 1,000 tons per day during August compared to July as the distributors shipped 146,900 tons […]
Canadian steel service centers shipped a total of 364,800 tons of steel products during the month of August. Compared to the previous year shipments were 6.1 percent lower and the 364,800 ton level was the second lowest shipping month this calendar year (July was the lowest at 318,700 tons). Year to date the Canadian distributors […]
Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Independence Tube Corporation (ITC), a leading independent manufacturer of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, for $435 million, or approximately 6x average EBITDA over the 2013-2015 period. “Independence Tube is a natural fit with Nucor. Their business model is similar to ours with extremely efficient […]
Retirees of US Steel Canada are appealing the decision by the Ontario Superior Court to uphold the suspension of benefits to former workers at Hamilton and Lake Erie Works. A new report by the Monitor assigned to the CCAA proceedings shows US Steel Canada has more cash available than projected–$160 million at the end of […]
The following analysis of the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) shipping and inventories data is what is normally shared with our Premium level members. Carbon steel shipments increased by 436,300 tons in August and almost reversed the decline of 443,300 in July. These gyrations are mostly driven by the number of shipping days in the […]
SMU attended the regional meeting of the Associated Steel Distributors (ASD) on Sept. 15 in Cleveland, Ohio. The meeting was well attended for a presentation by Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves. Mr. Goncalves spoke about the environment, trade and how conditions in the iron ore industry impact global steel supply, or, in recent years, […]
Nucor Steel Arkansas is planning a $230 million expansion at its Blytheville steel plant according to the Blytheville Courier News. Nucor Controller Mark DiGirolamo addressed the Blytheville City Council’s Finance and Purchasing Committee on Wednesday to seek a bond from the city to finance construction of a cold mill at the plant. According to the […]
Nucor expects higher earnings in third quarter compared to second quarter due to improved performance at its raw materials division and steel mills. In its third quarter guidance, Nucor said higher average selling prices that have benefited in part from contract sales priced on a lagging quarterly basis would improve profitability of the company’s sheet […]
Mingo Junction Steel Plant in eastern Ohio may resume making steel in the near future, according to reports by The Intelligencer. In mid-August, Jefferson Country Commissioner Thomas Graham said he expected an announcement of the reopening in the next few week. It is rumored that Asian Colour Coated Ispat, Ltd. (ACCIL), a steel manufacturer […]
Much has been made about the number of shutdowns there will be at various steel mills due to planned maintenance outages. Steel Market Update has been working with a number of our buyer sources to come up with a tentative schedule of the various projects due in the 4th Quarter 2016. This is our “best […]
Pensioners at US Steel Canada lost another court battle to put their pension claims ahead of US Steel’s debt claims. A ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeals on Friday, upheld a decision made by Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel in March. Pensioners, provincial government, and former Stelco president Bob Milbourne claimed that US Steel, the largest […]
Essar Steel Algoma will lay off 300-330 personnel during a maintenance shutdown of the plate and strip complex this week, said Brenda Stenta, manager of corporate relations for Algoma. The layoffs are only temporary and employees should return to work after about a week. The maintenance shutdown coincides with a weakness in the plate market […]
The United Steelworkers have filed a grievance regarding recent layoffs and demotions at US Steel Gary Works. USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap says the labor contract with US Steel does not permit layoffs and demotions without prior negotiation with union officials. So far the union estimates 75 maintenance workers have been laid off from […]
The G20 group of nations released their thoughts regarding excess steel capacity and what they are doing to rectify the situation (essentially they are kicking the can to 2017 when they will meet again and hear from an OECD committee on the subject). China has promised to cut steel production by 45 million metric tons […]
Essar Steel Algoma issued layoff notices to approximately 70-85 employees just before the Labor Day weekend citing low demand and pricing for steel plate. Plate demand is down in the energy, rail and agricultural markets and is coupled with prices below hot-rolled coil due to low priced and dumped imports. Said Brenda Stenta, spokesperson for […]
Mark Bula, the Commercial Director for Big River Steel made it official at our 6th Steel Summit Conference proclaiming Big River Steel as “open for business.” Bula, who was speaking on a panel on Innovation and the future of the steel industry, reported that the mill will begin producing their first hot rolled coil for […]
Last week the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported shipments and inventories for the month of July. We produced an article that normally goes to our Premium level members only last week but, one of our clients requested that we produce the report in the format we normally use for our Executive level members. Here […]
Olympic Steel, a leading national metals service center, announced the promotion of Andrew Greiff to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Office, as of August 19, 2016. Greiff joined Olympic Steel in 2009 and was promoted to President, Specialty Metals in 2011. In that role he managed sales and distribution of stainless steel and aluminum […]
West Chester, OH, August 22, 2016—AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) announced today it is launching NEXMET™, an innovative family of high strength steels for use in automotive lightweighting applications. These products are specifically designed to assist automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in meeting 2025 U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets. AK Steel’s NEXMET family of […]
Australian company BlueScope Steel’s Hot Rolled Products North America segment turned in strong operating results for the second half FY 2016, ending June 30, 2016. Second half EBITDA was AUD$132.5 million (US$ 101 million). Second half revenue for the segment, which included a 47 percent share of Castrip LLC and 100 percent of North Star […]
Essar Steel Algoma generated positive earnings in May and June, due to higher steel pricing, resulting in net revenue of C$136 million in June and total net revenue of C$753 million for the first half of 2016. EBITDA before restructuring costs was negative C$49 million for the first six months of 2016. For the reporting […]
Benefits will not be reinstated to US Steel Canada retirees ruled Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel in Superior Court on Friday. US Steel Canada has been given permission, however, to utilize $1.57 million in cash to pay retention bonuses to key employees. The judge also directed USSC to follow through on $2.7 million of funding to the […]