U.S. Steel announced the appointment of Kevin P. Bradley as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Bradley will lead all aspects of the company’s financial enterprise, including internal and external reporting, credit, tax and treasury services, investor relations, internal controls and internal audit administrative oversight. He will also assist in developing and implementing the […]
John Packard and Ray Culley of Steel Market Update (SMU) spoke with Michael Smerconish of CNN and Sirus XM Radio on Monday afternoon as we prepare for one of the most dynamic finishes to any steel-related conference program. The title of his presentation is, “How did we get here (politically) and what will it take […]
A shortage of qualified job seekers resulted in only 25 states adding construction jobs between May and June despite strong industry demand, says the Associated General Contractors of America. Forty-one states added construction jobs between June 2016 and June 2017. “Contractors in most of the country say they have plenty of projects booked and would […]
Registrations for our 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference continue to roll in. With five weeks to go before the conference begins, registrations topped 525 steel and manufacturing executives this weekend. We have more than 240 companies registered to attend and we anticipate we will add more over the final 37 days. The conference, located at […]
Registrations for our 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference continue to roll in. Five weeks from today our 7th conference will begin, registrations topped 530 steel and manufacturing executives as of this morning (Monday, July 24). We have more than 240 companies registered to attend and we anticipate we will add more over the final 34 […]
Phil Bell is a brave man. The president of the Washington-based Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) has volunteered to serve on a trade panel during Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit Conference next month in Atlanta. He knows full well that his fellow panelists—a trade lawyer, a manufacturers’ advocate and a spokesman for a libertarian think tank—will […]
Trade talks with China this week ended in a stalemate after the U.S. pressed for “more fair” trade terms. The discussions were described as “a frank exchange,” but little if any agreement was reached on bilateral trade and economic issues, according to a senior U.S. official. A press conference following the meeting was canceled and […]
We’re in for a good year ahead, says popular economist Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics, who will be a keynote speaker during Steel Market Update’s 2017 Steel Summit Aug. 28-30 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. Previewing his remarks, ITR forecasts another six months of accelerating economic expansion for the U.S., followed by […]
United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard says the Trump administration’s objectives for NAFTA don’t go far enough. In a statement following publication of the objectives by the U.S. Trade Representative, Gerard said that although the USW has long supported renegotiation of NAFTA, protection for workers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has been supplanted by […]
Drexel Metals, a custom metal fabricator and portfolio company of Arborview Capital, has been acquired by Carlisle Construction Materials. Drexel, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leader in the residential and nonresidential architectural metal roofing segment with regional facilities in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Colorado and Maryland. Drexel provides on-site rolling of metal panels, custom trim and […]
We’re in for a good year ahead, says popular economist Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics, who will be a keynote speaker during Steel Market Update’s 2017 Steel Summit Aug. 28-30 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. Previewing his remarks, ITR forecasts another six months of accelerating economic expansion for the U.S., followed by […]
The very first Steel Market Update Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop did not include a mill tour. It was held in Houston and, even though the class was interesting and educational, a few of the attendees told us how much better it would have been if they could have toured […]
The very first Steel Market Update Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop did not include a mill tour. It was held in Houston and, even though the class was interesting and educational, a few of the attendees told us how much better it would have been if they could have toured […]
Is today’s contentious and acrimonious political climate having a negative effect on American business? Is the win-at-any-cost attitude in politics, so evident in everyday news reports, eroding ethical business practices in steel and other industries? Is it OK to bend the truth or to make up “fake news” to damage your competition? The desire to […]
The 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference Events App is now available for all attendees, sponsors and exhibitors to download and use. The App is where you find all the most up-to-date information about the conference, what you work from to network with other attendees and what you will use to get the speaker presentations after […]
The 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference Events App is now available for all attendees, sponsors and exhibitors to download and use. The App is where you find all the most up-to-date information about the conference, what you work from to network with other attendees, and what you will use to get the speaker presentations after […]
ArcelorMittal Cleveland General Manager Eric Hague retired June 30, 2017, after 42 years in the Cleveland steel industry. Hauge was instrumental in preserving the blast furnaces when former owner LTV closed the plant in 2001. Instead of a warm idling of the furnaces, Hauge suggested a controversial cold shut down to preserve them from the […]
ArcelorMittal’s Georgetown steel mill may see new life under prospective owner Liberty House Group. A tentative deal has been reached with UK-based Liberty House to purchase the shuttered wire rod facility, but a completed purchase agreement has not been signed. ArcelorMittal is working to reach a successful conclusion to the sale of the Georgetown facility, […]
John Packard, Publisher, Steel Market Update Today I spent a good portion of my time wandering around the United States and Canada soliciting information about flat rolled steel pricing, lead times, Section 232 and anything else steel buyers wanted to talk about. I thought the quote of the day was from a manufacturing company who […]
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz and do not necessarily reflect those of Steel Market Update. There will be more discussion about trade, trade suits and Section 232 in our upcoming SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will include presentations by Leibowitz and others on both sides of the […]
On Monday, our registrations for the Aug. 28-30 SMU Steel Summit Conference surpassed 500 steel and manufacturing executives. We expect to beat last year’s attendance record by 100 attendees as the SMU Steel Summit Conference continues to be the fastest growing steel conference in North America. There are now 46 days to go… We also […]
ArcelorMittal submitted its first proposal to the USW negotiating committee on Monday. According to USW, the three-year keeps wages as is, cuts benefits, raises health premiums and makes changes to retirement contributions. The USW posted the following changes proposed by the Company in an update to members: The company has proposed a three-year contract with […]
According to our survey respondents not much has changed when it comes to how willing steel mills are to negotiate hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel pricing. Lead times continue to remain short and order books weak. This has created a situation whereby steel mills have to be competitively priced in order to […]
Steel Market Update is speaking at the Cowen & Company conference in New York City this week. On the agenda today were three former “captains of the industry” – Dan DiMicco, John Surma and Keith Busse – each a former CEO of a major steel producer, DiMicco with Nucor, Surma with US Steel and Busse […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 23rd, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,776 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents a decrease of 15 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs down 15 to 1,382 rigs, gas rigs down 1 to 387 rigs, and […]
A quick note to advise SMU will publish through Thursday evening and then will be down for the Labor Day Holiday Weekend. We will be back up on Tuesday, September 2nd. Tuesday, September 2nd will also be the beginning of our next steel market survey. As always your business is truly appreciated by all of […]
Sims Metal Management, a metals and electronics recycler headquartered in Australia, announced North American results for FY 2013 ending June 30, 2013. Underlying EBITDA for North American operations rose 30 percent year-over-year to $102.3 million. (Underlying EBITDA is a measure of the actual profits realized by a company used for business process planning, rather than […]
Currency update August 22nd 2013. The Federal Reserve publishes a trade weighted index of the value of the US dollar against a basket of the currencies of our major trading partners on a daily and monthly basis. This is referred to as the Broad Index. The Broad Index appreciated strongly in the 3rd Quarter of […]
New home sales plummeted 13.4 percent to an annualized pace of 394,000 in July, well below Junes’ initially reported 497,000 and the revised pace of 455,000. Economists expected sales to decrease in July to an annualized pace of 490,000, based on the initially reported June figure. Rising rates may be a factor in decreased home […]
Flat rolled steel service centers held 2.17 months of inventory on their floors, according to the results from our latest steel market survey completed on Thursday of last week. This is essentially unchanged from the 2.15 months measured at the beginning of the month and in line with the MSCI data reported at the end […]