On Tuesday we will do a complete review of the new zinc coating extras. The last report we provided mistakenly identified the Dofasco extras as those of ArcelorMittal USA. There is a difference in their extras due to the value of the Canadian currency against the U.S. dollar. We already have information on our website […]
Buyers of galvanized steel know that one of the most critical pieces of building pricing is adding the cost charge by the steel mill to apply zinc to steel. If you have had a chance to explore the ‘Resources‘ section of the Steel Market Update website, you may have come across our Steel Mill section […]
A number of steel mills have joined Nucor and US Steel by adjusting their coating extras on galvanized steel. Wheeling Nisshin advised their customers on Monday of this week that they were going to the new U.S. Steel galvanized extras. Severstal also made adjustments to their mills extras but they did not come out with […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) had been hearing that we should expect sideways scrap prices as we move into September. However, over the last couple of working days the signals are now pointing toward a strong sideways to slightly higher tilt to ferrous scrap pricing. We have heard numbers could go up as high as $10 […]
Late last week both ArcelorMittal and SSAB advised their customers of their intention to raise plate prices. Both companies followed the Nucor lead which was made on Monday of this past week, to raise carbon as rolled plate by $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and alloy, heat-treated, normalized and quenched and tempered plate prices by $40 […]
Pricing in the HRC futures market has continued slightly upward this week stemming from positive economic data and a bullish outlook within the steel industry. September prices have been trading around $655-667, October prices have been trading between $640-657, and Q4 has traded between $645-651, all about $5-10 improvements week on week. Further down the […]
ArcelorMittal iron ore mining operations in Liberia are in an expansion phase but the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has the company taking extra precautions to safeguard employees. The following statement was issued by the company on August 8. Luxembourg, 8 August 2014 – ArcelorMittal is currently mining and shipping 5 million tonnes […]
Ferrous scrap prices in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and East Coast have been moving sideways as the August negotiations come to a close. We are hearing from our scrap sources that the balance between supply and demand is quite good as flows have been solid and mill orders books are “decent.” Our scrap sources in Chicago […]
Domestic steel mill lead times on flat rolled steel are starting to extend compared to what we measured two weeks back. For most of the year lead times have been running within a relatively narrow window (see graph). The new data is suggesting lead times may be breaking above normal patterns. Based on our latest […]
Total steel imports dropped during the month of June from the 4.0 million plus tons received during the month of May to 3,611,305 net tons. However, June imports were well above the 12 month moving average (see table below) and were 46.8 percent higher than June of this past year. The biggest drop was in […]
A recent report from the World Steel Association named the top 50 steel producing companies for 2013. ArcelorMittal was the worlds largest producer with 96.1 million metric tons of steel produced, followed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation producing 50.1 million tons. Third place, with 45.8 million tons, went to Hebei Steel Group, followed […]
Steel Market Update is conducting one of our flat rolled steel market surveys this week. Part of our survey deals with hot rolled pricing, cold rolled pricing, galvanized and Galvalume pricing and what is available in the spot market this week. We are market conditions as being firm but not too firm. Steel executives, buyers […]
The ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor #7 blast furnace, which underwent a $70 million planned maintenance in the second quarter, is in the ramp up phase. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of this #7 furnace to us,” said Louis Schorsch during ArcelorMittal conference call, “This has been I could say, limping along the last year and […]
ArcelorMittal Dofasco is conducting a two phase upgrade of its galvanizing lines. Phase 1 includes a new heavy gauge galvanize line (#6 Galvinize Line) that will have AHSS capability and a capacity of 660ktpy. Phase 2 includes the conversion of the #4 galvanize line to a dual pot line. The #4 line is expected to […]
AM/NS Calvert production continues to increase with the hot mill running at 83 percent utilization in June. Initial slab shipments from ArcelorMittal Tubarao and ArcelorMittal Mexico were received in second quarter and are currently in trials. ArcelorMittal is still determining what the final split will be on shipments from the two mills to the US—Tubaro […]
ArcelorMittal posted a profit of $52 million in the second quarter, following a string of quarterly losses that included a $205 million loss in Q1 2014 and a $780 million loss in Q2 2013. Steel shipments increased by 2.5 percent y/y to 21.5 million tonnes (23.7 million net tons). Net debt decreased to $17.4 billion […]
With the announcement of the sale of Russian owned Severstal North America assets to AK Steel (Dearborn, Mountain State Carbon & Joint Ventures) and Steel Dynamics (Columbus) for $2.325 billion, the market is now asking what, or who, is next. There are two mills that are being mentioned. One, Gallatin Steel, a hot rolled mini-mill […]
A special thank you to Pacesetter Steel Service Inc. who has stepped up to sponsor our networking/cocktail reception to be held at the end of the first day of the SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. For those of you who are unaware the conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) […]
On Monday, July 21, 2014 OAO Severstal announced the sale of their two steel mills located in the United States for $2.325 billion. The two mills, Severstal Dearborn and Severstal Columbus were purchased by AK Steel and Steel Dynamics (SDI), respectively. The acquisition of the Severstal assets by two existing steel suppliers is being touted […]
For those of you who don’t realize it – Steel Market Update is conducting our mid-July market analysis this week. I have added a couple of questions about the sale of the Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. I will send out a reminder email first thing in the morning on Wednesday. If you receive an […]
In the last issue of Steel Market Update I warned that there are lots of rumors swamping the steel market as negotiations for Severstal NA heat up (or are perhaps already over) and Gallatin entertains bids on their mill (half owned by Gerdau and half ArcelorMittal). The other mill issue is the Chapter 15 (Canadian […]
Based on SMU sources we understand there are two steel mills, comprising three separate steel plants, that are for sale and could potentially change hands before the end of this calendar year. The two mills are Severstal NA and Gallatin. Severstal NA SMU understands the bids for Severstal NA were due this past Friday. Our […]
US Steel agreed in a Northern Illinois federal court on Tuesday to pay $58 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products. The suit alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by restricting production of steel products between […]
I spoke with the International Trade Administration this afternoon (Thursday) and they advised me that the OCTG Final Commerce ruling announcement will come out between noon and 4 PM ET tomorrow. The deadline date is today, July 10th but the actual announcement is always made on the next business day. We will receive a copy […]
The month began pretty much the same way it ended with one of the domestic integrated mills attempting to influence pricing by making a flat rolled steel price announcement. Early in June ArcelorMittal announced specific base price levels in an attempt to stem the slide which had already begun at that point in time. The […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
Our sources close to the process are advising Steel Market Update that bids on the Severstal North America steel mill assets are due on July 2, 2014. If, and if is a big question with this potential transaction, the bids are acceptable to the Russian parent company, the deal to sell the mills could be […]
This month will be focused on foreign steel imports. The month will kick off on Thursday evening or Friday morning (July 10th or 11th) when the US Department of Commerce is slated to report their final determination regarding the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) dumping suits. This determination is critical to those mills who support […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
AM/NS Calvert received its first shipment of slab from ArcelorMittal Lazaro Cardenas on May 24 for trial testing. Approximately 2000 slabs were delivered to the former ThyssenKrupp mill. A spokesperson for ArcelorMittal says the company is currently investigating a combination of both domestic and international slab sources for AM/NS Calvert. AM/NS Calvert has a total […]