Scrap recycling and brokerage firm David J. Joseph Company, a Nucor subsidiary, has promoted Mark Schaefer to president, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Schaefer succeeds Craig Feldman who will remain an executive vice president based in Charlotte, N.C. Schaefer joined DJJ in 1985, serving in number of positions including executive vice president of both the recycling […]
Not only are wholesalers who service the HVAC and construction industries wondering how high galvanized steel prices can possibly go, they’re even more worried about how low prices could go once the market normalizes next year. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported firm […]
Majestic Steel has completed the acquisition of P&S Metals and Supply, a Las Vegas-based steel service center and processor. The addition of P&S will extend Majestic’s footprint in Nevada and the western United States. “We are happy to welcome P&S Metals and Supply to the Majestic family,” said Todd Leebow, Majestic President and CEO. “P&S […]
Olympic Steel has hired Jeffrey A. Carson as General Manager for the Bettendorf, Iowa, facility. Carson will be responsible for growing the facility’s temper mill processing, fabrication and metal distribution in the region and will report directly to Thomas Sacco, Regional Vice President. Carson has more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing operations management, […]
Contractors Steel Company, a Midwest-based service center operated under UPG Enterprises, has acquired family-owned Borrmann Metal Center, a light structural and specialty metal service center based in the Los Angeles area. Borrmann has two California locations with more than 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and a fleet of 15 trucks. Borrmann offers a wide […]
Olympic Steel has acquired the assets of Action Stainless & Alloys, Inc., adding the Dallas, Texas-based distributor to its Specialty Metals business segment. Action Stainless & Alloys is a full-line distributor of stainless steel and aluminum plate, sheet, angles, rounds, flat bar, tubing and pipe and offers a range of processing, including plasma, laser and […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has finalized the acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA and its subsidiaries, creating the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. As agreed, ArcelorMittal received $505 million in cash and 78 million shares of Cleveland-Cliffs common and non-voting preferred stock, redeemable for 58 million shares of common stock or equivalent cash. In return, Cleveland-Cliffs assumes all […]
U.S. Steel has acquired the remaining 50.1 percent stake in the Big River Steel mill in Osceola, Ark., paying $774 million in cash, giving it full ownership of one of the most advanced flat-rolled minimills in the United States. U.S. Steel paid $700 million for a 49.9 percent share in BRS in 2019, making its […]
Stephen Eisenberg has been named chairman and CEO of Kenwal Steel, succeeding his father Kenneth to become the third generation to lead the company. Detroit-based Kenwal is one of the largest service center organizations in North America, listed at No. 17 on this year’s Metal Center News Top 50 Service Centers ranking with 2020 revenues estimated […]
Nucor’s Plate Group announced new, higher pricing on all its plate products on Monday. The mill no longer offers a delivered price for plate. “To continue providing an increased level of clarity and transparency in our plate product pricing, the Nucor Plate Group is now publishing our pricing on an ex-works (EXW) basis,” stated Nucor’s […]
United Steelworkers at NMLK Pennsylvania received an updated contract proposal from the company on Nov. 25 in hopes of resolving the four-month strike. The latest offer addresses several concerns of the bargaining committee. To address wage demands, NLMK will commit to an incentive system based on tons shipped that will “enable the employees to get […]
Cleveland-Cliffs received the all-clear signal from the Federal Trade Commission to move forward with the acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA. Cleveland-Cliffs expects the transaction to complete before the end of the year. “We are pleased that the federal antitrust authorities have cleared our transaction ahead of schedule. With that, we have a clear path toward closing […]
How do you recover from a catastrophic blast furnace explosion? That was the challenge for Operations Technology Manager Blake Crisman at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor following the incident at Blast Furnace D in July. What at first glance looked like a three-month project to restart the furnace was whittled down to just three weeks through a […]
Two recent steel mill issues have taken steel capacity out of the market, further tightening supply. Sources report that a COVID-19 outbreak at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has disrupted production affecting “at least” 50,000 tons. Customers report they have been told some January orders will be delayed until February and new orders for February may not […]
Much has changed since Flack Global Metals announced its plan a year ago to build a new painting and processing center adjacent to Big River Steel in Osceola, Ark. Minority shareholder U.S. Steel plans to buy the rest of BRS. Competitor Nucor got into the prepaint business with its purchase of Precoat Metals’ nearby Armorel, […]
Australian steel producer BlueScope has revised its forecast for the first half of FY 2021 due to improved operations at all its segments and the sale of property in the U.S. Earnings before interest and taxes are expected to increase to AUD 475 million ($345 million U.S.) compared to the October forecast of AUD 340 […]
Big River Steel has successfully started up a second electric arc furnace at its mill in Osceola, Ark., completing the Phase Two expansion that doubles the capability of the advanced steelmaking facility ahead of the original timeline. “When describing the success of our Phase Two construction efforts, I am extremely proud to be able to […]
NLMK USA has reached a settlement with the U.S. government regarding its challenge to the denial of Section 232 exclusions on steel slab imports. NLMK USA filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in February 2020, covering 86 requests for slab exclusions submitted by the company in 2018. NLMK USA argued that […]
Nucor is demonstrating its environmental commitment with the signing of a 15-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) for 250 megawatts of new solar energy in Texas. The agreement with EDF Renewables North America is Nucor’s first VPPA and the largest of its kind in the steel industry. EDFR plans to begin construction on the solar […]
The Italian joint venture Duferdofin-Nucor is coming to an end after a 12-year partnership. Duferco will repurchase Nucor’s 50 percent share of the company, becoming exclusive owner of the steel beam operations. Duferco also announced it will invest EU 180 million ($213 million) for a new rolling mill at the plant in San Zeno Naviglio, […]
Big River Steel is expected to roll the first coil from its new electric arc furnace sometime next week, according to U.S. Steel’s Q3 comments and other sources. The project ran ahead of the scheduled January start-up by more than two months. Although the first coil will be produced next week, full capacity won’t be […]
On Wednesday, Steel Market Update reached out to Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President & CEO Lourenco Goncalves to get his thoughts on the market as the U.S. is about to change leadership and Cliffs is about to complete their acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA operations (except for Calvert and Dofasco in Canada). SMU: Have you congratulated President-elect Biden? […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco has completed the blast furnace reline and modernization at Lake Erie Works and is “ready to roll.” Chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum said the project was on time and under budget and will be North America’s first truly “smart” blast furnace. The modernization boosts the mill’s production capacity by 300,000 net tons […]
JSW Steel USA has hired Christine Ovsenar as its new Chief Commercial Officer, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Ovsenar will be responsible for developing JSW Steel USA’s commercial team and strategy. She joins the company following 19 years at SSAB where she most recently served as Director of Sales, Commercial Products. Her 30 years of experience in […]
The strike by United Steelworkers at NLMK Pennsylvania is approaching its third month with very little progress made in negotiations over wages and healthcare. In particular, the USW and NLMK are at an impasse over the structure for a health plan. NLMK would like to transition employees from a PPO to a high deductible plan. […]
Russel Metals’ third-quarter results showed steady gains from rising steel prices and improved demand as the market comes to grip with the coronavirus. Russel also rationalized some assets during the quarter and is taking steps to reduce its exposure to the volatile energy sector. “Although business conditions remain challenging, they are improving,” said Russel President […]
Demand is back to 90 percent of pre-COVID levels after gaining strength in mid-September and continuing through October, said Olympic Steel CEO Richard Marabito in his third-quarter report to analysts and investors. Other than some normal seasonality, the service center expects demand to remain steady in the fourth quarter. “Our third-quarter performance improved sequentially, as […]
Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal narrowed its net loss to $300 million in the third quarter, an improvement on the loss of $600 million in Q2, as sales increased 20.9 percent to $13.3 billion due to higher steel shipments and a better sales mix. Worldwide shipments for the quarter totaled 17.5 million metric tons, a 17.5 percent […]
Mexican steelmaker Ternium’s operating rates are approaching full capacity after strong improvement in shipments and demand in the third quarter. Total steel shipments rose 16 percent from the second quarter to 2.8 million tons. Higher finished steel shipments partially offset lower slab shipments to third parties. Pricing recovered significantly from the trough in the second […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. reported incremental improvement in third-quarter 2020. Ryerson’s Q3 revenue increased 7.7 percent to $832 million, but the service center company posted a net loss of $39.9 million, which included a $52 million charge related to pension liabilities and 17.1 million in expenses related to the refinance of 2022 notes. Adjusted net income was […]