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 […]
On Wednesday of this week HARDI hosted their monthly steel conference call. Steel Market Update participates in these calls which are dedicated to a better understanding of the galvanized steel market. The participants are wholesalers, service centers and manufacturing companies who either buy or sell galvanized sheet products used in the HVAC industry. SMU advised […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of July were 318,700 net tons, a decrease of 14.8 percent from the month before and a decrease of 14.9 percent from July 2015. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,100,800 tons, down 1.8 percent from last month and down 25.6 percent from […]
Sims Metal Management announced the sale of its metals recycling facilities in Memphis, Tenn., and Mississippi to Steel Dynamics Inc. No purchase price was disclosed and the transaction was completed August 12, 2016. Sims Metal Management CEO Galdino Claro said the sale is part of the company’s strategy to divest non-core assets and reallocate capital […]
A Superior Court decision is expected Friday on whether US Steel Canada will be forced to restore benefits to retirees. Benefits were stopped in October after US Steel Canada petitioned the court saying it needed to reduce costs to stay in operation. Health benefits for retirees, payments to top-up pension plans and property taxes were […]
We normally reserve our expanded service center data analysis for our Premium members but felt this would be a good piece to share with all of our members. Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments declined by 443,300 […]
China has issued a new policy that outlines steps it will take to address overcapacity in major industrial areas. The report focuses on adherence to market rules and environmental and energy guidelines with punishment for those who fail to meet governmental standards. China has pledged to reduce overcapacity by 2020 in the iron and steel, […]
Mexican steel mill Altos Hornos de Mexico SA (AHMSA) filed a petition on August 16, 2016 for Chapter 15 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. AHMSA, has ended a drawn out Mexican bankruptcy process that provided court protection to the company for the past 17 years. A payment plan was […]
Union workers are objecting to the layoff of 38 workers at US Steel Gary Works on Friday. USW District 7 director Mike Millsap said the workers were laid off after consulting firm McKinsey & Co determined there were too many maintenance workers at the plant. “Under the contract, they can only lay off workers under […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a leading metals distributor and processor, reported net income of $5.6 million for second quarter 2016. Sales of $739.8 million declined 12 percent year over year due to lower average selling price, but increased 5.3 percent from Q1. Tons shipped increased 3.5 percent. Ryerson expects manufacturing growth to remain slow in the […]
A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. Essar Global clothed in the nomenclature of Ontario Steel Investments works is still Essar Global according to US Steel Canada. The bid by Ontario Steel Investments (Ontario Steelworks), announced on Tuesday, was rejected by US Steel Canada on Wednesday. US Steel Canada said it had already […]
PITTSBURGH, AUGUST 10, 2016 – Esmark Steel Group, one of the nation’s largest processors and distributors of flat-rolled steel, steel fabrication manufacturing and tinplate production, today announced that Michael Ogrizovich, currently President of Esmark Steel Group, has been named a Director to the company’s Board of Directors and been promoted to Vice Chairman of Mill […]
Ontario Steel Investments Limited (Ontario Steelworks) said on Tuesday that it has submitted a bid to buy US Steel Canada. The August 5th offer includes the assumption of the US Steel Canada pension plan, currently estimated at C$954 million ($724 million) and a commitment to provide C$25 million per year for post-employment benefits for current […]
A.M. Castle & Co., a specialty metals distributor, announced that it will sell its 50 percent joint venture ownership in Kreher Steel Business to partner Duferco. Duferco will become the 100 percent owner of Kreher in exchange for a purchase price of approximately $31.6 million. The transaction is expected to close August 22, 2016. The […]
NLMK USA flat steel product sales grew by 11 percent in second quarter 2016. Sales for the first half of 2016 were up 9 percent to 1 million tonnes (1.2 million net tons). One hundred percent of NLMK USA products are sold domestically to the processing, pipe, and automotive industries. North American sales for second […]
Olympic Steel announced net income of $3.6 million in the second quarter 2016, up substantially from the $22.3 million loss in Q2 2015. Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $273.6 million. Second quarter shipments of carbon flat products totaled 272,000 tons, up 2 percent from first quarter, and 2 percent below Q2 2015. Net […]
Union Partners LLC, a hands-on full service investment company, has acquired Berg Steel Corp., effective Aug. 1, 2016. There will be no interruption to service for customers of the Royal Oak, MI steel service center. Union Partners portfolio includes Mapes & Sprowl Steel LLC, Chicago Steel Holdings LLC, JIT Steel Services LLC, JIT Steel Transport, […]
ArcelorMittal posted net income of $1.1 billion second quarter 2016 compared to a net loss of $400 million in first quarter. Second quarter EBITDA nearly doubled from first quarter due to higher steel selling prices and volumes. Crude steel production was 13.1 million tonnes with shipments of 22.1 million tonnes. Sales increased to $14.7 billion […]
US Steel narrowed its losses in second quarter, reporting a net loss of $46 million compared to a loss of $340 million in first quarter, and $261 million in Q2 2016. Net sales for the company totaled $2.58 billion. Earnings for the flat rolled and US Steel Europe segments returned to positive numbers at $6 […]
California Steel Industries, Inc. (CSI) announced that Marcelo Botelho will be the new president and CEO of CSI, effective August 1, following the retirement of Toshiyuki Tamai. Botelho most recently served as Controller Global Director at Vale S.A. His background also includes positions in the utility, aerospace, and aluminum industries in Brazil. Tamai will retire […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
US Steel Kosice, located in Slovakia, is attracting attention from Chinese, Russian and South Korean investors according to a report by BNE Intellinews. The steelworks is Slovakia’s biggest employer in an area of high unemployment. Local media outlet SME said analysts are suggesting the mill may be taken over by South Korean steel mill POSCO […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
AK Steel reported net income of $17.3 million for second quarter 2016 compared to a net loss of $64.0 million a year ago. Net sales were 1.49 billion a decrease from $1.69 billion in in Q2 2015 as a result of lower automotive contract pricing as well as a decrease in shipments. Shipments totaled 1,555,500 […]