SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO – On January 29, 2016, Essar Steel Algoma appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn the January 6, 2016 decision of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (“CITT”) regarding dumped and subsidized hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate imports from India and Russia. In their ruling, the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported net income of $68.8 million for fourth quarter of 2014, down 25.7 percent from fourth quarter 2014 but up 33.5 percent from third quarter. Total sales for Q4 were $2.03 billion down 21.4 percent year over year and down 11.4 percent from third quarter 2015. Total tons sold were down […]
Steel Market Update received trade data from one of our sources regarding Chinese imports and exports of various products including steel. The number that the world markets are discussing is steel exports which totaled 112,400,000 metric tons for calendar year 2015 (123,900,000 net tons). These are big numbers. The U.S. domestic steel industry, which is […]
FORT WAYNE, Ind., Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ/GS: STLD) today announced the creation of three new leadership positions which will coincide with the retirement of Richard P. Teets, Jr., a co-founder of the company and its Executive Vice President of Steelmaking, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Steel Operations. Effective […]
SSAB faced a tough market in fourth quarter resulting in an operating loss of SEK 802 million ($94.4 million). Low volumes and steel prices in North America and Europe and a maintenance outage at SSAB Special Steels were contributing factors. For the full year 2015, SSAB posted an operating loss of SEK 128 million ($15.2 […]
The National Labor Relations Board is taking Allegheny Technologies Inc. to task for alleged unfair labor practices. The NLRB filed a formal complaint on February 11 accusing ATI of bargaining in bad faith on a new labor agreement with the USW and unlawfully locking out workers on August 15. The 31-page document accuses the company […]
EVRAZ North America announced it will idle indefinitely the Portland Spiral pipe mill in Oregon, effective April 9, 2016. The idling will result in the termination of 130 employees. The closure was “a result of economic challenges from three primary factors: delays in regulatory approvals for pipelines in the U.S. and Canada; the influx of […]
Essar Steel Algoma, under CCAA protection since November 9, 2015, officially went on sale today. The company posted the following announcement on its website: SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – Effective immediately, pursuant to an order by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice of Ontario on February 11, 2016, Essar Steel Algoma Inc. is commencing a […]
ArcelorMittal may be closing some finishing lines at Indiana Harbor according to comments by USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap. Millsap said in an interview in the NWI Times that several lines may be closed, mostly in the East Chicago facility, with others receiving major investments to improve efficiency. By running fewer operations around the […]
China’s Ministry of Commerce says it will take will take definitive steps to cut steel production over the next five years by 100 to 150 million tonnes. China’s excess steel capacity has been has been estimated to be around 300 million tonnes. With domestic demand down, steel production has found its way into exports that […]
Losses keep mounting at US Steel Canada but cash reserves are keeping the company alive for now. In his 21st report, court Monitor Alex Morrison reported an operating loss of CAD$144 million for US Steel Canada in 2015 compared to a loss of $37.9 million in 2014. Shipments totaled 1.8 million tons, a year-over-year decrease […]
Alliance Steel LLC announced it has acquired the working capital assets and customer list of Standard Steel & Wire Inc. (SS&W) based in Chicago, IL. Alliance Steel will concurrently form the Specialty Steel Division of Alliance Steel which will be headed by Dennis Barista, formerly of SS&W. Alliance Steel’s Specialty Steel Division will provide all […]
Mill Steel Co., one of the nation’s largest distributors of flat-rolled carbon steel, has acquired certain assets of S&S Steel Services, Inc. (S&S), an Indianapolis/Anderson based supplier of carbon flat-rolled steel service. Terms of the deal, which closed on January 11, 2016, were not disclosed. S&S Steel services manufacturing customers in the Midwest, Mid-South and […]
During their earnings conference call with the financial analysts, ArcelorMittal spoke about excess Chinese steelmaking capacity which needs to be removed from the markets as well as demand outlook which they believe will improve in the United States and Europe during 2016. The following selected comments were taken directly from the ArcelorMittal conference call transcript […]
The year 2015 was a brutal one for the domestic steel mills as well as the distributors who service the end user markets on a spot basis. Many of the service centers who purchase secondary (non-prime or excess) steel have suffered and have had to change the way they conduct business in order to survive. […]
Contract negotiations continue at ArcelorMittal without any progress reported. In the latest update to union members, the USW said it had made proposals in late January to the company that would “save the company millions of dollars in liability and legacy costs over the course of the contract.” The USW says it has addressed the […]
US Steel Canada is officially for sale again. A press release by USSC announced the company is commencing a sale and investment solicitation process under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). US Steel Canada is authorized by order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice “to pursue all avenues of a sale or refinancing of […]
USW members ratified a new three year contract with US Steel on Monday. The ratification passed by a 2-1 margin and will take effect immediately. “I am extremely proud of the solidarity and the commitment to fairness that the Steelworkers showed throughout this process,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, who led the union’s […]
Japan’s number one steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) announced it has begun discussions to buy fourth-ranked rival Nisshin Steel. The target date for the proposed acquisition is March 2017. The global imbalance of steel supply and demand led Nisshan to consider rationalizing its iron and steel making by shutting down operations at […]
US Steel told analysts this week that the company was down to 3 steelmaking facilities and 5 finishing mills as they try to right size to the market conditions. U.S. Steel conducted their earnings conference call with financial analysts on Wednesday of this week. During the call, CEO Mario Longhi and other executives with the […]
Impairment charges contributed to a $62 million net loss for Nucor Corp. in fourth quarter 2015. An impairment charge of $153 million was recorded for the Duferdofin Nucor plant in Italy due to low operating performance. The company also took an $84.1 million non-cash write-down after deciding not to proceed with plans for a blast […]
Closing arguments were heard Wednesday in the eight-day trial to determine if US Steel is owed more than $2.2 billion in debt by US Steel Canada. Lawyers for the union and province said that US Steel is calling equity investments debt as a way to recoup the cost of buying the former Stelco facilities. “What […]
Significantly lower prices and weakened demand for flat rolled and tubular products resulted in big losses for US Steel last year and the outlook for 2016 is not much better. US Steel reported a fourth quarter net loss of $999 million and a net loss of $1.5 billion for full year 2015. The company continues […]
Mexican steelmaker, TYASA, plans to build the first Castrip® mill outside of Nucor at its mini-mill in Ixtaczoquitlan. The new facility will have the capability to produce 500,000 tons of thin-gauge, high-strength. The TYASA steel campus in the state of Veracruz, Mexico is designed to be highly efficiently with environmentally-friendly low emissions. The Simetal EAF […]
USW members outside ArcelorMittal headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday were granted an unexpected interview with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal spoke with union members outside asking why they were rallying. Union leaders were invited in for coffee and a brief discussion with Mittal and ArcelorMittal Americas CEO Lou Schorsch. Union leaders told […]
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 […]
Steel Dynamics’ struggling recycling segment widened the company’s net loss to $253 million in fourth quarter 2015. It was determined that the book value of the metals recycling segment recorded $435 million in non-cash goodwill and other related asset impairment charge. Excluding the metals recycling charges, adjusted net income was $22 million on net sales […]
AK Steel has intentionally been reducing their exposure to the low-priced spot markets and instead they are looking at the higher end value added products going to automotive and other contract customers. AK Steel results exceeded analyst expectations for fourth quarter. The company reported a net loss of $147.1 million for the fourth quarter of […]
Essar Steel Algoma has received permission from a Toronto court to suspend special payments to its pension fund. The announcement alarmed retirees who were unsure what the suspension meant for their monthly pensions and benefits. Would they receive their checks? The decision was explained by Don Barill, president of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees […]
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 […]