Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco swung to a profit in the first quarter and expects high steel prices and sales volumes to galvanize results for the balance of the year. “All signs point to continued robust demand and strong pricing in the near term,” Stelco Executive Chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum said in a statement released […]
I wish I could start off writing about something other than steel prices. That said, since I joined SMU from Fastmarkets AMM in early January, the news really has been the price. SMU’s average hot-rolled price on Tuesday, May 4, stood at $1,500 per ton ($75 per cwt). That’s a 12.8% increase from $1,330 per ton a month ago […]
U.S. Steel has commenced a 25-day maintenance outage at the No. 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania. Steel Market Update has updated its blast furnace status chart to reflect the development. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said on its first quarter earnings call on Friday, April 30, that it had begun the […]
Atlas Tube, in a leading move, aims to increase prices for mechanical tubing, hollow structural sections (HSS) and piling products by at least $100 per ton ($5/cwt). The increase, effective immediately, applies to all new orders as well as to unconfirmed quotes and contracts, the division of Zekelman Industries said in a letter to customers […]
Klöckner & Co. SE posted its best quarterly results in more than 12 years thanks to high steel prices, short supplies and a strong showing from its digital operations. The Duisburg, Germany-based service center, which has significant operations in the U.S., expects the good times to continue to roll in the second quarter. “The overall […]
U.S. Steel swung to a profit in the first quarter on higher steel prices and strong results from electric-arc furnace (EAF) producer Big River Steel. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker recorded a $91-million profit in the first quarter of 2021 versus a $391-million loss in the same quarter of 2020 on revenue that jumped 33.1% to $3.66 […]
Ford expects to lose 50% of its planned second-quarter production because the global chip shortage has become a “significant headwind” for the company. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker had already lost 17% of its planned production in the first quarter because of the chip issue, and it anticipates losing 10% of forecast output in the second […]
Nucor has increased plate prices by $80-100 per ton ($4-5/cwt) along with the opening of its June order book. Nucor’s new ex-works base price for cut-to-length A36 plate is $1,220 per ton ($61/cwt), up from $1,140 per ton a month ago, according to letters to customers. The steelmaker’s new base prices for quenched-and-tempered Grade A514 […]
Ternium remains on track to start up its new hot strip mill in Pesquería, outside of Monterrey, Mexico, on time, according to industry sources. The Latin American steelmaker has indicated that it expects to start up by early June and has already filled its June and July order books, market participants said. Ternium did not […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) union and Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) appear to be far from making a deal as a strike against the company enters its fourth week. The USW says ATI is under pressure because it finds itself unable to fulfill existing customer orders a result of the labor action. An ATI spokeswoman said the company is […]
Ford has extended downtime at assembly plants in the U.S. and Canada into May because of an ongoing microchip supply squeeze. “The global semiconductor shortage continues, presenting challenges to a number of industries – including automakers worldwide,” a Ford spokeswoman said. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker will take outages the weeks of May 3 and May […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects historically high steel prices and record profits to continue for the balance of the year. The integrated steelmaker forecasts that U.S. hot-rolled coil prices will average $1,100 per ton for the remaining three quarters the year, according to guidance released with first quarter earnings data on Thursday, April 22. That’s 21.5% below SMU’s […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects historically high steel prices and record profits to continue for the balance of the year. The integrated steelmaker forecasts that U.S. hot-rolled coil prices will average $1,100 per ton for the remaining three quarters the year, according to guidance released with first quarter earnings data on Thursday, April 22. That’s 21.5% below SMU’s […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is running all eight of its active blast furnaces and has no plans to take significant downtime in the second quarter, the company’s top executive said. “We do not have any major outages scheduled in Q2. We are focused on getting steel out the door,” Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is running all eight of its active blast furnaces and has no plans to take significant downtime in the second quarter, the company’s top executive said. “We do not have any major outages scheduled in Q2. We are focused on getting steel out the door,” Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
SSAB Americas aims to increase plate prices by at least $60 per ton ($3/cwt) on all new, non-contract orders effective immediately. The steelmaker’s price hike appears to be a leading move, according to market participants. The price increase applies equally to as-rolled mill plate, cut-to-length plate more than 72 inches wide, hot-rolled coils more than […]
The global semiconductor shortage continues to disrupt North American vehicle production roughly four months after the issue emerged in a key steel end market. The result: Production at multiple North American assembly plants is down through the end of this month, and some are down in May as well. Here is where things stand to date. General Motors […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has opened its flat rolled orderbook, and the West Coast slab converter has also increased prices by as much as $130 per ton ($6.50/cwt), according to market participants. “The purpose of this letter is to inform you that CSI’s July Flat Rolled Order Book is now open,” the company said in emails to customers […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted record first-quarter sales and expects the good times to keep rolling into the second quarter. The solid showing came thanks to high steel prices, lean customer inventories and strong demand across most end markets, according to commentary released with first-quarter earnings data. “Numerous individual operating and financial records were attained–a […]
Downstream metals M&A is back, and it could be bigger than ever – or at least as big as it’s been since the last metals super cycle in 2006-08, according to one investment banker. Deal volume in the metals service center and processing sectors was good in early 2020 and “cratered” following the COVID-19 outbreak. But […]
Atlas Tube aims to increase prices for mechanical tubing, hollow structural sections (HSS) and piling products by at least $100 per ton ($5/cwt) effective immediately. The increase applies to all unconfirmed quotes and contracts, the division of Zekelman Industries said in a letter to customers Tuesday, April 13. The company, the largest HSS producer in North […]
General Motors has secured enough microchips to resume output earlier than planned at one U.S. assembly plant and to avoid taking downtime at a facility in Mexico. “GM’s supply chain organization has made strides working with our supply base to mitigate the near-term impacts of the semiconductor situation,” a company spokesman told Steel Market Update on […]
Hot-rolled coil lead times at some mills are well into June, so steel buyers have to ask themselves now whether a year-long upswing in prices is sustainable. In short, can hot-rolled coil prices continue their record run upward? First a Look Back at Where We’ve Been Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price was $1,340 […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito will be the featured speaker at the next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, April 14, at 11 a.m. ET. Marabito will bring a service center perspective to the current steel market in a one-on-one discussion with SMU. (Translation: This will not be death by PowerPoint.) Topics will include infrastructure, supply […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito will be the featured speaker at the next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, April 14, at 11 a.m. ET. Marabito will bring a service center perspective to the current steel market in a one-on-one discussion with SMU. (Translation: This will not be death by PowerPoint.) Topics will include infrastructure, supply […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB and automaker Volvo have teamed up to make what they hope will be the first vehicles made from fossil-free steel. Volvo plans to begin production of concept vehicles this year using fossil-free steel produced by SSAB, which is pioneering a hydrogen-based steelmaking process. Small-scale serial production will begin in 2022, and mass […]
Ford has joined General Motors in extending downtime at North American assembly plants because of a chip shortage that continues to roil the global automotive industry. The fresh wave of outages means that seven of nine Ford plants in the U.S. and Canada will be down or operating at a reduced schedule the week of […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito will be the featured speaker at the next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, April 14, at 11 a.m. ET. Marabito will bring a service center perspective to the current steel market in a one-on-one discussion with SMU. Topics will include infrastructure, supply chain disruptions stemming from COVID-19, and port congestion. […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) has continued operations in the face of a United Steelworkers union strike with temporary and non-union represented staff, a company spokeswoman said. “Most if not all of the plants that were active before the strike are in some phase of operations,” she told Steel Market Update on Thursday, April 8. Using […]
General Motors has restarted production at one U.S. assembly plant but taken additional downtime at a host of others because of a microchip shortage that has plagued the auto industry since late last year. The Detroit-based automaker, the largest in the U.S., will resume production at its Wentzville, Mo., assembly plant on the week of […]