U.S. Steel Corp. announced today that it will idle two blast furnaces in the United States and one in Europe to align with current market conditions. The B2 furnace at Great Lakes Works was idled last week for planned maintenance. U.S. Steel plans to keep the furnace idled following repairs, as well as temporarily idling […]
Two of the biggest steel companies in the U.S. are expecting earnings to decline in the second quarter. Nucor and Steel Dynamics both cite lower shipments and inventory destocking as contributing factors. In guidance released on Monday, Nucor forecast earnings in the range of $1.20 to $1.25 per diluted share compared to $1.63 per share […]
U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works suffered its second fire in six months when a small blaze broke out in electrical equipment early Monday morning, disrupting environmental controls. U.S. Steel released the following statement: “Early this morning, Monday, June 17, a small electrical fire was detected on an electrical breaker panel impacting power to the by-products […]
The CEO of ArcelorMittal says Europe has a “steel glut” because of U.S. tariffs and the EU needs to do more to limit imports. ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal told a German newspaper yesterday that safeguards initiated by the EU are not successfully protecting the European steel industry. “The EU has announced safeguard measures, […]
Mexican steel producer, Altos Hornos de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. (AHMSA) has reached an agreement with South Korea’s Paco Engineering to build Mexico’s first coated galvanized steel sheet plant. The new $20 million plant in Monclova will be able to process 90,000 tons of cold rolled sheet per year. “The painted sheet plant is one […]
West Coast Steel & Processing U.S.A. has acquired a 68,175-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chino, Calif., for $10.7 million. West Coast Steel divisions include SteelCo USA, Great Pacific Elbow, Mission Metals and Deluxe Building Products. Located at 13900 Sycamore Way, the property will serve as SteelCo USA’s sixth facility in the Inland Empire. Built in 1986, […]
Suppliers of steel products to the HVAC industry find themselves stuck in a good news/bad news market. Demand remains good as the construction season ramps up, but pricing on galvanized steel continues to weaken. “Demand in the Southeast is still very good, even though there has been a painful devaluation of our inventory,” said one […]
Union Partners, an operator of metals and logistics companies, is rebranding itself as UPG Enterprises LLC. The new name focuses on UPG’s metal processing, manufacturing and distribution capabilities while highlighting its family of brands, which include Maksteel, Contractors Steel, Mapes & Sprowl, Lamination Specialties, National Metalwares and Chicago Steel. The name change comes with a […]
Liberty Steel has announced the acquisition of Johnstown Wire Technologies, a producer of value-added carbon and alloy wire, in Johnstown, Pa. The acquisition will give Liberty the capacity to manufacture a range of high-value carbon and alloy wire products for multiple end markets including the infrastructure, automotive, utility and consumer sectors. The Johnstown operations will […]
Material Sciences Corporation has expanded its geographical reach to the West Coast with the acquisition of Alum-A-Fold Pacific, Inc. (AFP). Based in the Los Angeles area, AFP produces specialty coated metals that are engineered to address aesthetic, architectural, and corrosion needs for a wide variety of end markets, including building products, packaging, and consumer goods. […]
Big River Steel has big plans and now has access to the big dollars needed to fund them. The steelmaker reported Friday that it has closed and funded $487 million of 30-year bonds and $290 million of equity financing. The company will use the bond and equity proceeds to expand its scrap metal recycling and […]
NLMK Group has backed off from plans to invest in its U.S. division due to the steel duties that were imposed in 2018. The Department of Commerce has denied the Group’s request for exemption from the 25 percent Section 232 tariffs so that it can supply its facilities with steel slab. “Earlier we planned to […]
AK Steel reports that members of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Local 4104, have ratified a new three-year labor agreement covering about 110 hourly production and maintenance employees at the company’s Zanesville (Ohio) Works. AK Steel said that UAW officials notified the company that the new contract was ratified in voting held on May 30. […]
Industry veteran Greg Gross has accepted a position with Chicago-based Blackhawk Steel Corp. as its new director of purchasing and sales and chief operating officer. Blackhawk Steel is a distributor specializing in secondary steel products. Its sister company Dockside Steel Processing offers a range of processing services including leveling and slitting from a 120,000-square-foot processing […]
The chairman of Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de Mexico SAB was arrested on Tuesday in an anti-corruption probe, resulting in the freezing of AHMSA accounts and a possible disruption to steel production in Mexico. The investigation involves the sale by AHMSA of an idled fertilizer plant in 2014, allegedly worth $50 million, to oil […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will make another cut to European production levels due to weak demand and high import levels in the region. Primary steelmaking will be reduced at facilities in Dunkirk, France, and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany. Production at the facility in Bremen, Germany, will be reduced during the fourth quarter as well as extending planned furnace […]
A $700 million expansion at North Star BlueScope may be in jeopardy, according to some financial analysts who point to new challenges for the mill now that the Section 232 tariffs have been removed from Canada and Mexico. Softening hot rolled coil prices and higher cost inputs are expected to pressure U.S. steel spreads. The […]
Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) plans to increased steel production by 30 percent now that U.S. tariffs have been eliminated. The year-long Section 232 measures caused a 25 percent drop in AHMSA’s steel production and $300 million in lost revenue, said AHMSA President Alonso Ancira Elizondo. As orders from the U.S. fell due to the […]
British Steel Ltd. has been ordered into liquidation after failing to receive another bailout from the government. British Steel hoped to receive a $95 million support package from the government to help it with issues related to the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union. The government previously granted a $152 million loan to the company […]
Like everyone else in the steel industry, members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) are wondering what will happen to supply and prices now that the Trump administration has lifted the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Canada and Mexico and cut in half the tariffs on steel imports from Turkey. […]
Nucor Steel South Carolina will celebrate its 50th anniversary next month with plans to add vacuum degassing to its engineered bar capabilities at the Darlington mill. “This strategic investment complements our existing bar mills that primarily produce engineered bar products in Norfolk, Neb., Memphis, Tenn., and Wallingford, Conn. It will position us to better serve […]
ArcelorMittal USA has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $5 million in fines for emissions violations in Northwest Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio. “We have been working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Ohio EPA to […]
Material Sciences Corp., a producer of advanced materials and specialty coated metals, announced that private equity firm Sky Island Capital has purchased majority control of the company. “Bringing in the Sky Island team will allow us to be more aggressive with add-on acquisitions and continue to grow the company,” said MSC CEO Pat Murley. “We […]
U.S. Steel Corp. has been hit with another penalty by the Allegheny County Health Department due to emissions violations at its Clairton Coke Works. A fine of $337,670 was levied against the company for excessive visible emissions from its coke batteries during the first quarter of 2019, along with a penalty of $5,750 for a […]
ArcelorMittal faced a number of challenges that impacted earnings in the first quarter resulting in net income plunging 66 percent to $414 million from $1.19 billion reported in both the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019. Earnings reflected a $150 million impairment charge related to the sale of assets to acquire ArcelorMittal […]
Thyssenkrupp has given up on trying to merge its steel division with Tata Steel’s European division after three years of planning. The two companies announced the termination of the proposed joint steel venture on Friday, saying they could not satisfy European antitrust regulators. Thyssenkrupp also ended its plan to separate its capital goods business—car parts, […]
Primetals Technologies will supply an Arvedi Endless Strip Production line for the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant in Pennsylvania. The ESP line is the first to be constructed in the United States and has a rated annual capacity of 2.76 million tons of high quality, ultra-thin strip. The ESP line will be able to produce […]
Canada’s Russel Metals reported a solid performance in first-quarter 2019, though the company does not expect the market to keep pace with the record-setting year in 2018. “We think 2019 is going to be a very good year for Russel, but more similar to 2017,” said President and CEO John Reid during the quarterly conference […]
AISTech 2019, presented by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, boasted more than 8,000 attendees this year. The four-day conference May 6-9 in Pittsburgh included more than 550 technical presentations and nearly 550 domestic and international exhibiting companies. The exhibit floor was a dizzying display of the latest innovations from software and robotics to cranes […]
AISTech 2019, presented by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, boasted more than 8,000 attendees this year. The four-day conference May 6-9 in Pittsburgh included more than 550 technical presentations and nearly 550 domestic and international exhibiting companies. The exhibit floor was a dizzying display of the latest innovations from software and robotics to cranes […]