Let’s put aside the question of whether the steel market has peaked. Let’s just assume that it has, for the sake of argument. Will the correction be gradual, rapid, or gradual until it’s rapid? I tend to think it will be the latter. But let’s put the question of timing aside and just look at […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to announce that Michael Lerman of Steel Warehouse will be the featured speaker during our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). Lerman is the president of Steel Warehouse, a private, family-owned service center chain – one of the largest of […]
JSW Steel USA has restarted the electric arc furnace (EAF) at its sheet mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, after a minor burn through late last month. The EAF resumed melting on Wednesday, a day ahead of the expected schedule, JSW Steel USA CEO Mark Bush told Steel Market Update on Thursday. The burn through happened on […]
Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. (USIMINAS) will take a lengthy, unplanned outage – 90-150 days – at the No. 2 blast furnace at its Ipatinga Plant in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. The Brazilian steelmaker said it would minimize the impact on customers in part by buying slabs on the open market to make up […]
Sheet prices are mixed this week. Hot rolled is up $10 per ton, cold rolled is down $30 per ton, and galvanized base prices are unchanged. What do you make of a week like this when there is no clear trend? First, I would caution against reading too much into any one week – especially when […]
The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ) has acquired two recycling operations that are expected to increase its capacity by 10%, parent company Nucor Corp. said. DJJ’s deals – terms of which were not disclosed – will support the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s growth strategy and increase its ability to secure scrap for its electric arc furnace (EAF) […]
Steel and metals companies need to up their cybersecurity game as digital thieves increasingly shift their focus from sophisticated data breaches to high-volume ransomware attacks. And doing so isn’t just the right thing to do, it might soon be required for insurance purposes and to qualify for Defense Department work, said Mike Del Giudice, principal […]
Mexican flat-rolled steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is taking a planned, two-week outage on its hot strip mill, a company spokesman said. The outage is underway. Because it was planned, customers should not be impacted, he said. AHMSA’s hot strip mill has annual capacity of 2.8 million tons per year, according to the Association […]
Stellantis – the Dutch parent company of Chrysler – has extended downtime at two of its North American plants because of the ongoing global microchip shortage, a company spokeswoman said. The automaker’s assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., will be down the week of Oct. 4 as will its assembly plant north of the U.S. border […]
JSW Steel USA’s electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, has experienced a “minor furnace burn through,” the company’s top executive said. But the impact on customers is expected to be limited, JSW Steel USA CEO Mark Bush told Steel Market Update. The burn through happened on Sunday, Sept. 26, and repairs are […]
General Motors has resumed production at most of North American assembly plants, but has extended downtime at others – notably in Canada and Mexico. Crosstown rival Ford has also scheduled additional downtime at some of its U.S. plants. Here is where things stand with Detroit-based GM, the United States’ largest automaker: GM’s Lansing Grand River (LGR) assembly […]
Market participants have sharply different views of which way prices will go over the next three months – but whichever camp you’re in, futures are your friend, according to one expert on the matter. Futures markets have seen steep selloffs in recent trading sessions, moves indicating that some industry participants think prices have peaked and are […]
U.S. Steel’s Midwest Plant is back up and running after operations were temporarily halted because of discolored wastewater, a company spokeswoman said. The Portage, Ind., finishing operation – part of U.S. Steel’s Gary Works in northwest Indiana – had been down for about a day, the spokeswoman told SMU on Wednesday afternoon. Midwest Plant typically discharges treated […]
Price dynamics in the steel market are starting to resemble an inverted yield curve, and market participants should treat the situation with appropriate caution. Plate mills and tube producers have announced significant price increases: $75 for tubular products ($3.75 per cwt), $80 per ton for plate and as much as $240 per ton for quenched and […]
At least two domestic pipe and tube mills have announced higher prices on the heels of higher hot-rolled coil costs, market participants said. Atlas Tube in a leading move said it was raising prices by at least $75 per ton ($3.75 per ton) for mechanical tubing, hollow structural sections (HSS) and piling products. The pipe-and-tube price […]
U.S. Steel has temporarily halted operations at its Midwest Plant because of discolored wastewater discharged from its Portage, Ind., finishing facility. “The Midwest Plant was shut down as a precaution, and we continue to coordinate with agencies to collect additional samples to monitor the situation,” a company spokeswoman said in an email to Steel Market […]
Evraz North America (NA) has followed other domestic mills in raising prices for steel plate. The increases are effective immediately for all new orders, the Chicago-based steelmaker, a subsidiary of London-based Evraz Plc, said in a letter to customers dated Monday, Sept. 27. Evraz NA is increasing transactions by at least $80 per ton ($4 […]
The week ahead could be pivotal for Section 232, infrastructure spending and the U.S. pivot toward Asia – all of which are increasingly interlinked, according to one policy expert. The Biden administration wants to ease or lift Section 232 tariffs on the European Union as part of efforts to form a broader coalition against China on […]
SSAB Americas has followed competitor Nucor in raising prices for steel plate by at least $80-200 per ton ($4-10 per cwt). The price hike is effective immediately for all new spot orders, the Mobile, Ala.-based steelmaker said in letters to customers on Friday, Sept. 24 The increase of $80 per ton (Canadian $100 per ton) applies […]
A lot has been written about how a severe shortage of prime scrap could be the lasting result of the widespread shift to electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. I’d like to take a minute to point out that tri-state area around Pittsburgh, which Nucor is considering for its $2.7 billion, three-million-tpy EAF sheet mill mill, […]
It’s far too early to say that the automotive sector – and the steelmakers who supply it – are out of the woods when it comes to the global chip shortage. But for the first time in weeks, General Motors and several other automakers with North American operations have announced no additional downtime or have […]
A Pennsylvania state senator wants the Keystone State’s governor to work with him to land Nucor and U.S. Steel’s new, multibillion-dollar sheet mills in the western part of the state. Sen. Joe Pittman, a Republican, wants to meet with Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, in hopes of attracting the electric arc furnace (EAF) mill projects – […]
Nucor, in a leading move, announced that it was increasing plate prices along with the opening of its November order book. The price hike is $80 per ton ($4/cwt) for A36 plate and normalized product, and it is $200 per ton ($10/cwt) for quenched-and-tempered material. The increase – announced on Wednesday, Sept. 22 – marks at […]
If you feel a chill in the air, it’s not just the first day of fall and cooler weather coming. We’ve noticed a cooling in market conditions – and it’s backed up by our survey results (which are colorful like fall leaves). Let’s not talk about prices, at least not directly. Let’s talk about lead times, […]
Nucor plans to build a new, $100 million melt shop at one of its bar mills in the western United States. The melt shop is expected to have capacity of 600,000 tons per year and is slated to start up in 2024, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. It is also anticipated to create 140 new, full-time […]
Nucor has enough raw material to supply its planned $2.7 billion, 3-million tpy sheet mill, but is exploring new technologies that might help it further reduce carbon emissions. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker is eyeing a range of options – including increased use of shredded scrap in its sheet mills’ electric-arc furnaces (EAFs), “green” pig iron […]
Nucor plans to build a new, $2.7 billion electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill with annual capacity of three million tons per year in either Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia. The facility is aimed at customers in the Midwest and Northeast as well as at the automotive industry, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. “These important markets […]
Olympic Steel Inc. has sold its Detroit operations to Canadian flat-rolled metal processor and distributor Venture Steel Inc. for $58.4 million in cash. The Cleveland-based service center said the final sale price would be higher once working capital adjustments were taken into account. The deal will allow Olympic to reduce debt, give it more flexibility […]
NLMK USA has again sued the U.S. government over Section 232 and wants at least $130 million awarded to it for tariffs it claims were “wrongfully extracted” by the Commerce Department. The steelmaker and slab converter – a subsidiary of Russia’s Novolipetsk Steel – also claims that “secret,” undocumented and “off-record” meetings and communications between Commerce and […]
General Motors has extended downtime at some of its assembly plants into mid to late October because of ongoing parts and semiconductor shortages. “Although the situation remains complex and very fluid, GM continues to prioritize full-size truck production, which remains in high demand,” a spokesman for the Detroit-based automaker said. Here is where things stand […]