West Chester, OH, August 28, 2013—AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that members of the United Auto Workers Local 3044 have ratified a four-year labor agreement covering about 195 hourly production employees at the company’s Rockport (IN) Works. “We are pleased to have reached a competitive labor agreement at our Rockport Works ahead of the […]
United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8782 is due to vote on a contract proposal on Friday that may end the long standoff between U.S. Steel and union employees at Lake Erie Works. Union members at Lake Erie Works have been locked out since April 28 after rejecting at that time a second and final contract offer […]
Cliffs Natural Resources announced Tuesday that it has entered a nine year agreement to provide iron ore pellets to AK Steel. The new agreement runs from 2014 through 2023. Cliffs will continue to supply AK Steel under its previous agreement from now until 2014. The new agreement sets minimum and maximum volume purchases from Cliffs […]
Severstal NA revenue for Q2 rose to $953 million from $930 million in the first quarter 2013. Demand growth was led by U.S. automotive, construction and pipe and tube industries. First half 2013 revenue, however, fell to $1,883 million from $2,158 million in H1 2012—a 12.7 percent loss. Severstal reported a utilization rate of almost […]
Oversupply is likely to weaken China steel prices in the second half of 2013 said Baosteel General Manger Dai Zhihao to analysts on Monday. Profit margins have fallen in China with Baosteel reporting a 61.47 percent year over year drop in earnings for the first half of 2013. Overcapacity of nearly 300 million surplus tonnes […]
HARDI held their monthly steel conference call earlier today. The purpose of the call is to keep the HVAC wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil in touch with market conditions and trends which could impact their businesses. The consensus of opinion, based on the comments made during the conference call, is prices remain stable […]
ArcelorMittal Cleveland will take down their C-6 blast furnace according to a company spokesperson who communicated with Steel Market Update this afternoon. The blast furnace is scheduled to go down on September 5 and is scheduled to be down approximately ten weeks, according to the company. The company is conducting a partial reline of the […]
Esmark Inc. announced management restructuring changes for Esmark Steel Group on Tuesday. Esmark Inc. Chairman and CEO James P. Bouchard will reassume the CEO duties of Esmark Steel Group formerly held by Thomas Modrowski. Esmark also advised Ohio Cold Rolling restart has been delayed. The restructuring affects management positions in both Esmark Steel Group and […]
The Pritzker Organization, LLC will acquire TMS International Corp. in a $1 billion cash transaction. TMS, a global provider of raw material procurement services to the steel industry, provides mill services at 81 customer sites in 12 countries and operates 36 brokerage offices on five continents. TMS is a partner with Onex Corporation which holds […]
AK Steel said its steel shipments will be 1.27 million to 1.30 million tons in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 1.4 million tons in the fourth quarter of 2012, since the normal cycle of spot pricing increases has floundered and not resulted in higher sales. Automotive market shipments are expected to surpass fourth […]
Manufacturing companies continue to report negligible support for higher spot prices by the distribution segment of the flat rolled industry. In our most recent survey, the vast majority of manufacturing companies reported their service center suppliers as providing stable spot prices (75 percent). Only 7 percent were reporting higher spot prices and those reporting lower […]
Worthington Industries, a diversified metals manufacturing company, reported a one percent gain in net sales in the third quarter ending February 28, 2013, finishing at $619.5 million compared to $611.3 million the prior year. Gross margin improved to $97 million from $83.3 million in 2012, mostly due to gains from Pressure Cylinders and acquisitions. Steel […]
According to SMU sources combined with an article written by Jose Manuel Saavedra & Ivo Ribeiro we have discovered that CSN has not yet made a firm proposal on the assets of ThyssenKrupp Steel Americas steel mills. The Brazilian article reported that CSN is requesting an extension of time in order to conclude their negotiations […]
CENTRIA President Mark Sherwin is retiring after leading the company as its inaugural president for the past 17 years. Sherwin will step down as of April 1, 2013. Joel Mazur, currently general manager of the CENTRIA Architectural Systems business segment, will assume Sherwin’s position. Mazur joined CENTRIA in October of 2012 after 30 years in […]
Severstal announced that International Iron Beneficiation Group Ltd. (IIGB) has launched a study into the feasibility of locating a granulated iron facility in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Severstal is also considering locations in Quebec, Minnesota, Kentucky and Indiana. The iron facility would use an innovative process that converts superfine iron ore into metallic iron units without […]