By CRU Analysts Ruilin Wang and Kevin Bai China has released a draft emission control policy document for the 2019-2020 winter heating season (WHS). Although the overall target for air pollution control is tighter than last year, it will not lead to greater steel supply restrictions because: • Clear regional targets to meet ultra-low emission standards […]
Mexican steel producer AHMSA is seeking a way out of its financial difficulties including a possible sale of the company, according to various press reports. Altos Hornos de México is recovering from a corruption scandal that rocked company finances and coincided with a downturn in market conditions. Board of Directors President Alonso Ancira was accused […]
The Canadian Steel Producers Association has appointed Algoma Steel CEO Michael McQuade as Chairman of the Board of Directors. McQuade was appointed CEO of Algoma in March 2019. Prior to assuming the leadership role at Algoma, McQuade accumulated more than 35 years of experience at Stelco Inc. He moved through a variety of roles at […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $855.9 million, a 13 percent year-over-year decline, and a net loss of $4.8 million for its fiscal 2020 first quarter, driven by lower volume and lower average selling prices in steel processing. Worthington was also hit by a pre-tax impairment and restructuring charge of $43.5 million primarily related to […]
Members of the United Auto Workers at AK Steel Coshocton Works ratified a new 46-month labor agreement on Sept. 20. The agreement covers approximately 300 hourly production workers and maintenance employees at the facility and will be effective until July 31, 2023. “We appreciate the work of the Union leadership with our management team to […]
U.S. Steel is feeling the pain of falling steel prices and deteriorating market conditions. The company expects an earnings loss of 35 cents per diluted share for the third quarter of 2019 compared to a profit of 39 cents per share in the second quarter. The company followed Nucor and Steel Dynamics in lowering guidance […]
Steel Dynamics is expecting earnings to drop in the third quarter due to lower profits from its steel operations. Lower scrap prices were not enough to offset lower shipments and declining steel pricing. The steelmaker expects earnings in the range of $0.66 to $0.70 per diluted share compared to $0.87 per share in the second […]
Nucor expects a weaker performance from its steel mills segment in the third quarter due to lower prices for sheet and plate steel. “Although we still see stability in most of the end-use markets that we serve, there has been some softening in automotive, agricultural products and power transmission markets,” said the company in guidance […]
Operations at Mill Steel Co.’s Anderson, Ind., facility are winding down as the service center moves to consolidate operations at its Jeffersonville, Ind., plant. The two locations, just a couple hours apart, suffered from some redundancy, and the company determined it would be more efficient to service customers from the larger Jeffersonville facility, explained Mill […]
By CRU Analyst Ryan Smith Operating costs for flat-rolled minimill producers have dropped in 2019 as weaker steel markets have pulled down metallics prices. This has meant that operating costs for minimills are now in line with integrated producers in the USA. However, the current cost level is not expected to be maintained. (See related […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan Smith Most people believe that minimills, which remelt scrap in electric arc furnaces, have a big cost advantage over integrated mills, which feed ore and coking coal into giant blast furnaces. But such conventional thinking is an oversimplification of the cost comparison. Based on site costs alone, and where steelmaking […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum continues to dominate the service center market, ranked No. 1 once again in the just-released Metal Center News Service Center Top 50 with $11.5 billion in revenues. In total, North America’s Top 50 metals distributors accounted for a record $61.1 billion of the industry’s sales last year. Sixteen of the companies […]
Marion Britton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Russel Metals, has announced her plans to retire next year after more than three decades with the Toronto-based metals distributor. Britton will remain with Russel during 2020 to ensure a smooth transition, as the company now begins a search for her replacement. Britton began her […]
A number of maintenance outages are scheduled at U.S. steel mills in the coming months with the majority to occur in October. Blast furnaces at AK Steel Dearborn, ArcelorMittal Cleveland and Burns Harbor, and U.S. Steel Gary Works are scheduled for maintenance in October, representing an estimated 495,050 tons of steel capacity temporarily removed from the […]
Nucor Corp. has announced a change in leadership as part of its planned succession process. John J. Ferriola, 67, will retire as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on Dec. 31. Leon J. Topalian, 51, was named President and Chief Operating Officer, effective Sept. 5, and will succeed Ferriola as CEO on Jan. 1, 2020. Ferriola […]
The remaining days for AK Steel Ashland Works are numbered. Employees received final notices on Tuesday from AK Steel regarding the permanent shutdown of the Ashland plant scheduled for Dec. 31. The letter from the company sent to about 260 employees states: “As you know on Jan. 28, 2019, AK Steel announced its plans to […]
Alro Steel Corp. is reportedly investing $12 million in improvements to the former Central Steel & Wire Co. facility on Milwaukee’s south side, which it purchased for $7.1 million earlier this year. The Jackson, Mich.-based distributor plans to relocate its Wauwatosa distribution center there by late 2020. Alro is in the process of constructing a […]
Nucor has received more than 2,300 applicants for 250 positions at its $400 million steel plant in Sedalia, Mo. The rebar plant is expected to open in November. Jessica Craig, Sedalia-Pettis County economic development executive director, says 153 employees have already been hired, some coming from as far away as Columbia and Kansas City, more […]
Steel demand from the agricultural sector is down substantially, according to a panel of steel distributor and processing CEOs at the 2019 SMU Steel Summit. North American farming profits were hit hard in 2019 by weather, high steel prices and retaliatory Section 232 and 301 tariffs, impacting the ability of farmers to invest in equipment. […]
JSW USA is delaying construction of an electric arc furnace at its Baytown facility due to current market conditions. “While JSW USA is fully under way in modernizing the Plate Mill at Baytown, Texas, given the current market conditions and the prevailing policy environment, the company has for now decided to put on hold the […]
U.S. Steel announced that it will idle its East Chicago Tin facility due to low capacity utilization and consolidate production from three to two facilities. The company hopes to transfer about half of the 297 employees at East Chicago to Gary Works and the Midwest plant. The statement below was sent to employees on Friday. […]
ArcelorMittal announced that it will lay off 100 workers at its Weirton, W. Va., tin plate plant. The company joins its competitors, U.S. Steel and NLMK USA, in cutting back production in recent weeks. ArcelorMittal said in a statement: “In order to maintain its position as a competitive and sustainable tin plate producer, ArcelorMittal Weirton […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association announced today that Big River Steel has joined the association. SMA President Philip Bell welcomed BRS as an “epicenter for steelmaking innovation.” Big River Steel is located in Osceola, Ark. It calls itself the world’s first Flex Mill, merging the wide product mix and superior grade capabilities of an integrated mill […]
It’s official: North Star BlueScope in Delta, Ohio, will be getting a new EAF. Australian parent BlueScope Steel announced the expansion during its FY 2019 earnings presentation. The $700 million investment will add a third electric arc furnace and second caster at the facility, boosting annual capacity by 850,000 metric tons (936,949 net tons). Commissioning […]
U.S. Steel Corp is citing lower pricing and waning demand for the temporary layoff of approximately 200 workers at its Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich. In June, U.S. Steel announced that due to market conditions it would idle a blast furnace at Great Lakes as well as one at Gary Works in Indiana. At this […]
North Star BlueScope was a key contributor to FY 2019 results for Australian parent BlueScope Steel. Revenue at North Star totaled $916 million in the first half of the fiscal year and $784 million in the second half. Total FY 2019 revenue was $1.7 billion, up from $1.49 billion in FY 2018. North Star BlueScope’s […]
Canada’s Russel Metals has expanded its presence in the oilfield with the $160 million acquisition of City Pipe & Supply Corp. City Pipe & Supply supplies pipe, valves and fittings to oil and gas companies in the Permian, Eagle Ford, Granite Wash, Barnett and Haynesville basins, which collectively represent approximately 60 percent of the active […]
ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has the honor of providing the steel for the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years. Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding held a ceremony at its shipyard to celebrate cutting the first sheet of steel to be used in the construction of the vessel for Interlake Steamship […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco Holdings pulled off a profit for the second quarter despite significant headwinds. Second-quarter revenue decreased 39 percent from a year ago, shipping volume was down 27 percent and the average selling price per ton fell 15 percent to $761, the company reported during its earnings call on Wednesday. (All figures are […]
Electric arc furnace minimills may have a cost advantage in steel production today, but there are still 19 traditional blast furnaces going strong in the United States. Blast furnaces dominate about three-fourths of global steelmaking, but only three steel producers in the U.S. currently are using BF or basic oxygen furnace technology: U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal […]