SMU is pleased to announce that Wolfe Research Managing Director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our first Community Chat webinar of 2022. We’ll discuss the big issues – the great debates – that will drive steel markets next year: • Will we see continued solid demand in 2022 or a “great unwind”? […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has opened its February order book for flat-rolled steel and decreased prices significantly, according to market participants. That’s a big change from 2021, when the Fontana, Calif.-based slab converter often increased prices substantially from one month to the next. “Customers are reminded that prices are subject to change at any time […]
Ternium USA Inc. plans to invest $98 million to increase coating capacity at its steel mill in Shreveport, La. The money will be used to add a second paint line to the Shreveport facility with capacity of 120,000 tons per year. Construction of the new paint line is expected to begin in the first quarter […]
U.S. Steel expects lower adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter compared to the third but a strong 2022 thanks to contract prices resetting higher. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker forecast fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $1.65 billion, down from adjusted EBITDA of $2.03 billion recorded in the prior quarter. The fourth-quarter dip represents a temporary slowdown in order […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has joined competitor Nucor in predicting another quarterly earnings record for the last quarter of 2021. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker predicted fourth-quarter earnings in the range of $5.46 to $5.50 per diluted share, according to guidance released on Thursday, Dec. 16. That’s up from $4.85 per diluted share in the […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB says its plate mill in Montpelier, Iowa, is not on for sale. “Regarding … the Iowa mill, SSAB currently has no plans to divest assets,” an SSAB Americas spokesperson said in an email to Steel Market Update. SSAB’s U.S. operations are comprised of two plate mills – one in Mobile, Ala., and […]
ArcelorMittal Mexico has made the first coil from the new hot strip at its steelmaking complex in Lazaro Cardenas, a port city in Mexico’s Michoacan province. Company spokespeople did not respond to requests for confirmation from Steel Market Update. But the moment was celebrated on social media by ArcelorMittal employees and executives. One example: “Congratulations […]
Steel prices fell hard again this week. While the absolute numbers – down $60 per ton ($3 per cwt) on hot-rolled coil – might appear shocking at first glance, one could make the case that we’re being conservative. The development shouldn’t have come as a surprise to those who lived through past ups and downs. […]
Institute for Supply Management® CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). ISM is the first and largest supply management association in the world. And so Tom Derry is in a great position to put vexing problems like port congestion in […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its January order book for flat-rolled steel – but doing so took significantly longer than in past months. “We will contact you when we open the flat rolled order book for February 2022,” the Fontana, Calif.-based slab converted said in a letter to customers on Monday, Dec. 13. The company […]
Nucor has acquired a majority stake in California Steel Industries (CSI) for approximately $400 million in a deal that will significantly expand its presence on the West Coast. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker paid that amount for Brazilian iron ore miner Vale’s 50% stake in Fontana, Calif.-based CSI. It also acquired 1% of Japanese steelmaker’s JFE […]
Institute for Supply Management® CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). ISM is the first and largest supply management association in the world. Tom will put vexing problems like port congestion in the context of global supply chain trends and […]
Institute for Supply Management® CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). ISM is the first and largest supply management association in the world. Tom will put vexing problems like port congestion in the context of global supply chain trends and […]
Arkansas lawmakers have introduced a bill that would expand tax credits in a bid to attract U.S. Steel’s planned $3 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet steel mill to the state. And the bill’s lead sponsor, state Sen. Dave Wallace (R), narrowed down potential locations even further. He said tax credits were aimed at convincing the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker to invest its […]
Top U.S. and British trade negotiators appear to be nearing a deal to ease Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from the United Kingdom. That’s according to recent statements from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Commerce Department. Case in point: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Secretary of State […]
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) is considering plans to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) long products mill and a galvanizing facility for steel sheet in the United States. That’s according to an investor presentation in which the Brazilian steelmaker said new plants in the U.S. as well as expansions in Europe and in Brazil were […]
Brazilian iron ore miner Vale is in an “advanced stage of negotiations” to sell its stake in California Steel Industries (CSI), according to an investor day presentation. The presentation did not say which company Vale was in talks with. CSI is a Fontana, Calif.-based slab converter. It is also a 50-50 joint venture between Vale […]
Institute for Supply Management® CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). ISM is the first and largest supply management association in the world. And so Tom Derry is in a great position to put vexing problems like port congestion in […]
Nucor Corp. plans to build a new, $350 million rebar “micro mill” in the South Atlantic region of the U.S. The new mill is expected to have capacity of 430,000 tons per year, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. “We have recently executed two successful rebar micro mill start-ups and believe the East Coast market will be in […]
Looking for floor plate for Christmas? What about hot-rolled coil for the New Year? You’re in luck. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., can get floor plate to you by Dec. 25, or just 18 days from now. And most of its sheet mills can get you hot-rolled coil by Jan. 1, or 25 days […]
I’m concerned we’ve all gotten a little too complacent with the idea that the price correction underway will continue to be gradual and that the new floor for hot rolled coil, whatever it is, will be four digits instead of the sub-$400-500 per ton floors that have characterized past downcycles. I’m not saying we’re headed […]
Nucor and Big River Steel have joined the ranks of sheet mills announcing new coating extras for 2022. “Consistent with our practice to monitor the cost of zinc, we have revised our galvanized coating weight extras,” Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor said in a letter to customers on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The new coating extras will be […]
Institute for Supply Management® CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). ISM is the first and largest supply management association in the world. And so Tom Derry is in a great position to put vexing problems like port congestion in […]
A long-running legal fight over whether former President Donald Trump had legal authority to double Turkey’s Section 232 steel tariff to 50% might be headed to the Supreme Court. Attorneys representing a Turkish mill and consumers of Turkish steel last month filed a request – also known as a “writ of certiorari” – asking the […]
Algoma Steel Inc. has secured Canadian $220 million (U.S. $172 million) in funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to help pay for its conversion to electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker said the government money would pay for equipment for the project, which carries a total price tag of approximately […]
Published mills lead times are back, another sign that the steel market is returning to something resembling normal. Hot-rolled coil lead times, for example, are three to four weeks at some mills. That would be unremarkable in a normal market. But it is news after a year in which customers were either on allocation or […]
Don’t forget to tune into our next Community Chat with Jefferson Shaw, vice president of strategy for Evraz North America. The free webinar will be on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). Click here to register. We’ll talk about Evraz NA’s plans to run its steel mill in Pueblo, Colo., on […]
Nucor has increased plate prices by $40 per ton ($2 per cwt) with the opening of its January order book. The price hike – announced on Monday, Nov. 29 and effective immediately – is equal across all plate products. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s price increase is also notable because it is $10 per ton less than the […]
Steel Market Update is taking a few days off for Thanksgiving. That means we will not publish issues on Thursday, Nov. 25, or on Sunday, Nov. 28 We will resume our regular publication schedule next week. Our next issue will be on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The holiday will not impact our pricing schedule. We update […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has filed a duty circumvention case against coated flat-rolled steel from Vietnam made from Japanese substrate. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker thinks that “minor alterations” such as coating represent an attempt to circumvent existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil from Japan. The U.S. Commerce Department has […]