ArcelorMittal North America will be led by a new chief executive officer, Robrecht Himpe, effective July 1, 2016. Himpe will continue to serve as executive vice president of ArcelorMittal and CEO of AM/NS Calvert. He will be based in Calvert, Alabama and provide leadership for both organizations. “ArcelorMittal North American organization will continue to focus […]
SSAB Americas results in improve in second quarter due to higher volumes and prices. Sales were SEK 2.8 billion ($323 million) compared to SEK 2.4 billion ($277 million) in first quarter. Shipments improved 11 percent to 526,000 tonnes from 475,000 tonnes in Q1. The company reports good demand from steel service centers and the wind […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. reported net income rose 11.9 percent to $100.9 million in second quarter 2016. Sales of $2.20 billion were down 9.1 percent from a year ago but up from first quarter by 1.9 percent. Gregg Mollins, President and CEO of Reliance, said, “The metals pricing environment for carbon steel products was […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 20, 2016 — Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Joy Global’s steel plate mill in Longview, Texas, for approximately $29 million. The mill produces carbon and alloy plate products with heat-treating capabilities and has an annual capacity of 180,000 tons. “This acquisition builds on our strategy to capture […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments increased by 169,300 tons in June to 3.220 million tons. The number of shipping days increased by one to 22. On a t/d basis shipments increased from 145,200 in May to […]
U.S. steel service centers shipped a total of 3,385,100 net tons of all steel products during the month of June 2016 according to recently released data from the Metal Service Center Institute. This is 5.1 percent lower than one year ago. The daily shipment rate was 153,900 tons up slightly from the 152,600 tons shipped […]
HARDI wholesalers reported today that the key to this current market is to be disciplined as you go about your business. The wholesalers, who provide galvanized steel and other products to the mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada, told SMU and other wholesalers on their monthly steel conference call, that business conditions continue […]
Steel Dynamics announced second quarter 2016 net income of $142 million on net sales of $2.0 billion. In comparison, net sales in Q1 totaled $1.7 billion with net income of $63 million and year ago sales were $2.0 billion with adjusted net income of $53 million. A decline in imports of flat rolled steel and […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of June were 374,100 net tons, a decrease of 3.7 percent from the month before and a decrease of 14.4 percent from June 2015. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,120,500 tons, down 2.6 percent from last month and down 26.0 percent from […]
A new bidder may step forward for Essar Steel Algoma, according to UK publication Financial Times. According to the Financial Times, Liberty House, a metal trade and integrated steel producer, hopes to secure deals for both Essar Steel Algoma and US Steel Canada. Liberty is also watching the developments in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy at […]
China’s State Council announced today that it will relax regulations to allow foreign companies to set up wholly-owned steel manufacturing units in four pilot free trade zones. According to a posting on the Central government website, foreign firms will no longer be subject to certain qualification requirements and stake control restrictions when investing in the […]
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. has developed a new automotive steel that is 20-30 percent lighter and 25 percent stronger than any high-tensile steel now on the market. The highest tensile strength currently available is 1400 megapascals with the industry average around 1200 MPa. NSSMC’s new steel has a grade of 1470 MPa and […]
SAULT STE. MARIE – Essar Steel Algoma Inc. (Algoma) has received notice from the Term Lenders that the Consortium Agreement between KPS Capital Partners LP and certain Term Lenders has been terminated. The Term Lenders have indicated that they remain committed to a going-concern outcome for Algoma and all of its stakeholders, and to closing […]
Ontario Steel Investment says it signed a letter of intent with USW Local 2251 for the acquisition of Essar Steel Algoma. Ontario Steel says it will assume all employer liabilities for Essar Steel Algoma’s pension plan in return for a purchase price of US $900 million for the acquisition of the company. Ontario Steel is […]
Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp confirmed they are in talks about consolidating their European steel businesses. Tata Steel is currently in the process of selling its UK assets but said on Friday that it will also “look at alternative and more sustainable portfolio solutions for the European businesses.” Tata said it has been reviewing bids from […]
Baosteel Group says it will cut its crude steel capacity by 9.2 million tonnes between 2016 and 2018. At a government meeting on July 8, Baosteel’s chairman Xu Lejiang urged state-owned steel firms to use merger and acquisitions to address excess steel capacity. He also urged the government to step up efforts to eliminate inefficiencies […]
Tata Steel is expected to announce on Friday that it is halting the sales process for its UK assets, according to a report by the BBC. Shortly after the United Kingdom announced withdrawal from the European Union, four of the shortlisted bidders pulled out of the process citing uncertainty about the continuing viability of the […]
ArcelorMittal has made a joint bid with Marcegaglia SpA to purchase Italian steel plant Ilva. In an announcement on June 30, the consortium outlined their plans to bring the troubled mill up to environmental standards and increase production. If successful in it its bid, ArcelorMittal plans to return the three blast furnaces at the plant […]
A strong finish to the 2016 fiscal year drove annual earnings per share to a record $2.22 for Worthington Industries. Earnings for fourth quarter, ending May 31, 2016, were were $58.8 million with sales of $714.7 million. Net earnings were more than double Q4 2015 earnings of $28.9 million. “While we expect some headwinds to […]
It appears that Essar Global has been eliminated from the bidders vying for the assets of US Steel Canada. The Hamilton Spectator is reporting that the USSC board of directors has rejected a bid from Essar Global because of concerns that the company lacks the financial resources to complete a purchase. Essar was rejected as […]
Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group (Wisco) are contemplating a merger that would unseat Hebei Iron and Steel Group as China’s largest domestic producer and rival European steelmaker ArcelorMittal. A merger of China’s second largest steelmaker Baosteel with fifth ranked Wisco would create a combined output of approximately 70 million tonnes. The merger would […]
There have been a number of articles written recently regarding the move by the Chinese government to remove some of the tax incentives in the form of rebates to the Chinese steel producers who export certain steel products. Any move to remove export tax rebates on steel is seen as a positive by the rest […]
Essar Steel Algoma filed a formal motion for approval of the sale of the company to KPS Capital. The asset purchase agreement will sell the assets of Algoma for a combination of cash sufficient to pay the outstanding liabilities under the DIP facility, a credit bid of the term loan debt, and assumption of certain […]
USW members overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with ArcelorMittal today (June 23). The new agreement covers nearly 14,000 union-represented hourly production, maintenance, and technical workers at the company’s 15 locations through Sept. 1, 2018. “We have settled our differences with management at the table, so together now we can focus on addressing the industry’s real […]
Once a month Steel Market Update participates in a steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The wholesalers associated with HARDI supply galvanized steel and other products to the mechanical contractors involved in residential, multi-family, light commercial and commercial construction around the country. The purpose of the call is to better understand the galvanized steel markets […]
An explosion and fire at US Steel Edgar Thomson resulted in the evacuation of the steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania last night. Firefighting crews from Forest Hills and Braddock responded. No injuries were reported. US Steel released the following statement: “At approximately 7:30 p.m. last evening, an incident occurred in the steelmaking area of the […]
USW Local 1005 says it is prepared to fight for what belongs to the active workers and 20,000 pensioners at US Steel Canada. The Canadian USW Local representing Hamilton Works is angry about media reports “that there are bidders interested in purchasing Stelco and Algoma and they will not assume ‘legacy obligations’ referring to pension […]
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 41,100 tons in May to 3.050 million tons. The number of shipping days was he same at 21. On a tons per day (t/d) basis shipments decreased from 147,200 […]
Essar Steel Algoma announced today (June 17) that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with KPS Capital Partners, LP. The sale is subject to approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. KPS, a leading private equity firm in the manufacturing sector, has a history of transforming challenged businesses into healthy, independent companies. […]
Speculation continues to grow that KPS Capital, the suitor for Essar Steel Algoma, will also buy US Steel Canada and merge the two companies. Sources for the Globe and Mail and Hamilton Spectator say that KPS is one of the two remaining bidders for the former Stelco operations in Hamilton and Nanticoke. According to anonymous […]