One of the west coast steel mills, California Steel Industries (CSI), has advised their customers that, “Due to changing market conditions, effective immediately, California Steel Industries is increasing transaction prices by a minimum of the following: Hot Rolled = $25.00/tonP&O = $25.00/tonCold Rolled = $25.00/tonGalvanized = $25.00/ton” The letter was dated August 13, 2014. […]
Ohio-based service center Heidtman Steel announced production for its new slitting facility in East Chicago, Ind. is expected to begin in early September. Installation of equipment is nearly complete and trial runs will begin later this month. Full production is anticipated by October. The 120,000 sq. ft. facility houses an Alcos brand Advance High Strength […]
The service centers who sell secondary or excess prime flat rolled steels are reporting a very tight market as less material is being made available out of the steel mills and holes are developing in steel service center inventories. Secondary steel buying prices out of the domestic mills have been moving up but have not […]
Due to the higher LME zinc spot prices which have surged from about $.88 per pound in late March 2014 to just below $1.10 per pound in mid to late July, Nucor became the first steel mill to adjust their zinc coating extras for galvanized steel. With little fanfare, Nucor published new extras on the […]
Nucor Corp. is continuing its legal battle to prevent the construction of neighboring competitor Big River Steel. The company has filed another environmental complaint on August 7 in the US District Court in Jonesboro, Arkansas, claiming emissions from the planned mill would harm the air quality in Mississippi County. Previous legal attempts by Nucor to […]
NLMK USA second quarter sales increased 18 percent quarter over quarter to 540,000 tonnes (595,238 net tons). Revenue increased 13 percent q/q to $499 million. NLMK Indiana ran at 81 percent capacity in the second quarter. Profitability declined due to narrower spreads between prices for slabs and rolled steel products. NLMK Group sales totaled 3.83 […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp. shipments fell by 3.8 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2014, due to the extended winter, consolidation of sites and the reduction of low-margin business. EBITDA improved by 27 percent from €41 million to €52 million ($55 million to $69.7 million), helped by operational improvements and higher-margins. The company expects US […]
ArcelorMittal iron ore mining operations in Liberia are in an expansion phase but the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has the company taking extra precautions to safeguard employees. The following statement was issued by the company on August 8. Luxembourg, 8 August 2014 – ArcelorMittal is currently mining and shipping 5 million tonnes […]
Olympic Steel & Aluminum posted the highest net sales in its history. Second quarter sales increased 16.7 percent year-over-year to $386.0 million, due to increased market share and higher sales volume. Net income jumped 38 percent to $3.5 million from $2.5 million in Q2 2013. Flat product volume was up 17 percent in Q2 to […]
One of our Steel Summit Conference speakers, Chuck Bradford, produced an interesting report on Chinese pig iron and crude steel production, imports and exports. Mr. Bradford shared the information with Steel Market Update along with a few comments: “Please keep in mind that the data I show in this report is more exact than the […]
The ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor #7 blast furnace, which underwent a $70 million planned maintenance in the second quarter, is in the ramp up phase. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of this #7 furnace to us,” said Louis Schorsch during ArcelorMittal conference call, “This has been I could say, limping along the last year and […]
ArcelorMittal Dofasco is conducting a two phase upgrade of its galvanizing lines. Phase 1 includes a new heavy gauge galvanize line (#6 Galvinize Line) that will have AHSS capability and a capacity of 660ktpy. Phase 2 includes the conversion of the #4 galvanize line to a dual pot line. The #4 line is expected to […]
AM/NS Calvert production continues to increase with the hot mill running at 83 percent utilization in June. Initial slab shipments from ArcelorMittal Tubarao and ArcelorMittal Mexico were received in second quarter and are currently in trials. ArcelorMittal is still determining what the final split will be on shipments from the two mills to the US—Tubaro […]
ArcelorMittal posted a profit of $52 million in the second quarter, following a string of quarterly losses that included a $205 million loss in Q1 2014 and a $780 million loss in Q2 2013. Steel shipments increased by 2.5 percent y/y to 21.5 million tonnes (23.7 million net tons). Net debt decreased to $17.4 billion […]
Keith Grass, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Raw Materials and Chief Executive Officer of The David J. Joseph Company will retire effective September 12, 2014. Mr. Grass began his career with DJJ in 1978, serving as President of DJJ from 2000 until December 2012 and CEO of DJJ since 2000. He was appointed Executive Vice […]
AK Steel has shut down the blast furnace at Ashland Works for the second time this year. A “hearth chill” incident occurred last week (described as excess water in the furnace) according to AK Steel officials during the company’s earnings conference call Wednesday, and further maintenance was anticipated. In an email to SMU, Mike Wallner, […]
Severstal North America reported strong growth in sales volume in the second quarter, up 6 percent quarter over quarter. Revenue of $1.06 billion was 4.9 percent higher than the previous quarter driven by higher sales volume. EBITDA was up a record 33.3 percent in second quarter to $100 million reflecting operational improvement at Severstal Dearborn […]
US Steel did surprisingly well in the second quarter, coming back from a weather impacted first quarter to narrow losses and show operating profit. US Steel reported a net loss of $18 million in the second quarter, performing better than expected. Income from operations came to $132 million. Net sales were $4.40 billion as compared […]
OAO Severstal posted a net loss of $661 million for second quarter that includes a non-cash loss estimate of $1.066 billion on the disposal of Severstal Dearborn, Severstal Columbus, and PBS Coal and a foreign exchange gain of $199 million. Excluding these items, Severstal would have posted a net profit of $206 million. Second quarter […]
Once per month, HARDI sponsors a conference call for those HARDI members who are involved with the sale and distribution of galvanized steel to the HVAC and related industries. Steel Market Update participates in these calls along with wholesalers around the United States and Canada. Since the last HARDI conference call we have seen a […]
AK Steel posted an adjusted profit in second quarter despite adverse weather early in second quarter that delayed iron ore shipments forcing reduced production. Adjusted net income was $2.9 million. AK Steel shipped 1,397,500 tons of steel in the second quarter for sales of $1.53 billion. Average selling price rose 3.2 percent to $1,095 per […]
US Steel reported a net loss of $18 million in the second quarter, performing better than expected and narrowing losses. Net sales were $4.4 billion as compared to $4.448 billion in first quarter. Total steel shipments were 5.029 million tons, down from 5.124 million tons in the previous quarter. Flat rolled shipments were 3.527 million […]
Big River Steel CEO John Correnti says government should “stay out” of private industry. What appeared to be a contradiction after receiving more than $125 million in incentives from the state of Arkansas, Correnti stated in an interview with Arkansas Business that states have to invest in big business in order to stay competitive, but […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum reported a net income of $96.5 million for second quarter, up 11 percent from the previous quarter and 19 percent year over year. Sales were at a record $2.62 billion, up 2.5 percent on a quarterly basis. Improved metals pricing contributed to improved gross profit margins. Demand was below expectations with […]
Nucor announced consolidated net earnings of $147 million for the second quarter of 2014. Second quarter net sales increased by 4 percent to 5.29 billion compared to Q1 and 13 percent compared to Q2 2013. Steel shipments to outside customers totaled 6,370,000 tons, an increase of 1 percent q/q and 9 percent y/y. Steel production […]
With the announcement of the sale of Russian owned Severstal North America assets to AK Steel (Dearborn, Mountain State Carbon & Joint Ventures) and Steel Dynamics (Columbus) for $2.325 billion, the market is now asking what, or who, is next. There are two mills that are being mentioned. One, Gallatin Steel, a hot rolled mini-mill […]
Improved demand and higher prices in North America helped SAAB Americas report a strong profit for second quarter and the first half of 2014 after reporting losses in both time periods in 2013. SSAB Americas steel sales soared 15 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2014 and 9 percent on a quarterly […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today announced the release of its 2013 Annual Statistical Report (ASR). The 2013 ASR shows that U.S. steel production, shipments, imports and exports all decreased in 2013 vs. 2012, as U.S. steel markets remained below pre-recession levels. U.S. steel shipments were at 95 million net […]
Following the announcement of the sale of Severstal NA to AK Steel and Steel Dynamics, Severstal sent out a letter on Wednesday evening explaining the sale to their customers with assurance that the two mills would continue to run as scheduled over the next few months. A copy of the letter is below: Dear customer, […]
NLMK USA sold 538,000 tonnes (593,033 net tons) of steel in the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 17.8 percent following low sale volumes in first quarter due to unfavorable weather conditions. Steel sales for the first half of 2014 totaled 994,000 tonnes (1.095 million net tons) due to stronger US demand, an increase […]