Steel industry leaders met with members of the Congressional Steel Caucus this morning (March 25, 2014) to discuss the need for policy reform on trade, energy, environment and infrastructure in order to keep US industries competitive. SMU has reprinted the short version of the American Iron and Steel Institute press release below. The full testimonies […]
Yesterday (Wednesday the 19th) Nucor announced a price increase on their new orders and listed base prices of $33.00/cwt on hot rolled, $39.50/cwt on cold rolled, and $39.50/cwt on galvanized. These are the same levels that ArcelorMittal, NLMK USA, and Severstal announced earlier in the week. California Steel Industries (CSI) also announced an increase on […]
Steel Market Update began our latest analysis of the flat rolled steel market on Monday of this week. We found mill lead times remained very similar to those reported at the beginning of March. The ArcelorMittal flat rolled steel price announcement was not made until late Monday afternoon and by then 50 percent of the […]
Hello from Orlando where the weather is sunny with temperatures in the low 80’s… Come to think of it I believe today is the first day of spring – and it couldn’t have come at a better time. One of the complaints being picked up in this week’s steel survey has been the impact the […]
The steel market, in particular the steel service center market, has been anticipating a flat rolled price increase announcement for the past few weeks. The fact that it was ArcelorMittal USA leading the way should not come as a surprise. The mills that have few to no spot tons to sell are AK Steel, US […]
Late on Monday afternoon, ArcelorMittal moved to raise spot flat rolled steel pricing. In an email to their customers, AM reported that, “Inventories on sheet products appear to be in balance of slightly lean compared to our second quarter consumption forecast. As a result, we are quite surprised by the recent erosion in pricing that […]
In an email sent late in the afternoon on Monday, March 17th, ArcelorMittal USA announced a price increase on all of their new flat rolled orders, with specific base prices at $33.00 for hot rolled, $39.50 for cold rolled, and $39.50 for galvanized. The mill justified their increase by stating “Despite the recent drop in […]
The partnership between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) has created a new sales entity for a portion of the flat rolled produced at what was once ThyssenKrupp Steel USA in Calvert, Alabama. The new 50/50 joint venture mill, renamed AM/NS Calvert, will have two sales groups much like I/N Tek which […]
ArcelorMittal USA is building bridges, or at least starring in a supporting role. All three of the ArcelorMittal USA mills—Burns Harbor, Coatesville and Conshohocke—are supplying high performance plate steel to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York. The project is one the largest contracts in New York history and the largest transportation infrastructure project […]
Takashi Imura, General Manager US Flat Rolled Division for Metal One, announced that with the purchase of the ThyssenKrupp Steel USA steel mill in Calvert, Alabama by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Corporation and ArcelorMittal the new company: AM/NS Calvert has nominated Metal One to sell their flat rolled steel products. Metal One has been involved […]
For our Premium Level members – we should have a special Premium Supplemental newsletter for you by Wednesday afternoon. In it will be an article on currency values and changes and their impact on the market as well as our imports by product, port and country. We will be including slabs in our import by […]
There are situations at two mills which are causing sleepless nights for some flat rolled steel buyers. AK Steel is helping tighten the Midwest market and keeping prices from plunging perhaps further than they may have otherwise. As one of our steel sources put it to Steel Market Update today, “…the further reduction of melt […]
There are situations at two mills which are causing sleepless nights for some flat rolled steel buyers. AK Steel, through the loss of their Ashland blast furnace, is helping tighten the Midwest market and keeping steel prices from plunging perhaps further than they may have otherwise. As one of our steel sources put it to […]
Steel Market Update received the following steel market analysis from one of our member companies based on the Academy Awards. Sometimes it is better to look at the flat rolled steel market with a sense of humor so here goes: Current Market Perspective (inspired by the Academy Awards): The US Steel market continues to be […]
The domestic steel mills did not announce any flat rolled steel price increases during the month of February. The last price increase announcement was made by USS/POSCO to their West Coast customers on January 30th. The last announcement on the East Coast was ArcelorMittal Dofasco which adjusted prices to take into account the lost value […]
The sale of ThyssenKrupp USA to 50/50 joint venture partners ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation is finally complete. The $1.5 billion acquisition of the Calvert, Ala., hot rolled, cold rolled and coating and finishing mill has met all regulatory approvals allowing ThyssenKrupp a sigh of relief and AM & NSSMC the opportunity […]
ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) announced the new name for the “world’s most modern steel finishing facility”—the former ThyssenKrupp mill in Alabama—will be AM/NS Calvert. The announcement was made during a private employee-only reception held at facility on Thursday. “The name is AM/NS Calvert. AM and NS need no explanation. And […]
The sale of ThyssenKrupp USA to 50/50 joint venture partners ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation is finally complete. The $1.5 billion acquisition of the Calvert, Ala., hot rolled, cold rolled and coating and finishing mill has met all regulatory approvals allowing ThyssenKrupp a sigh of relief and AM & NSSMC the opportunity […]
ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) sent a letter to Calvert customers on Thursday assuring them of a seamless transition for the Alabama facility. The existing Calvert sales team will be integrated into the ArcelorMittal USA sales and marketing organization. Customers will be able to work with their current customer representative while […]
A stronger performance is expected in all end-markets for 2014 said Reliance Steel & Aluminum in the company’s recent conference call. The following are some comments by Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board David Hannah and Gregg Mollins, President and Chief Operating Officer on the steel market and industry. Regarding pricing Gregg Mollins […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly galvanized steel conference call with the HARDI wholesalers, manufacturing companies and service centers associated with the HVAC related organization. The wholesalers in the Upper Midwest, East Coast and as far west as Wichita, Kansas reported having lost 5-6 days of shipments due to inclement weather in their […]
On Monday, Steel Market Update revised our SMU Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower. The adjustment means we anticipate flat rolled steel prices will move lower over the next 30 to 60 days. At the time of the change, SMU benchmark hot rolled coil was published at $660 per ton. The last adjustment to […]
For those of you watching the weather you may be aware that Atlanta is suffering through another winter weather event. Since our offices are located north of Atlanta that means we are suffering as well. The good news for me personally is I decided to spend a few days in Florida after attending the Port […]
The acquisition of the ThyssenKrupp Calvert, Alabama mill by joint partners ArcelorMittal and NSSMC is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014. The company has received Department of Justice anti-trust approval and is waiting for other regulatory approvals to clear. ArcelorMittal is prohibited from looking at the customer mix and order book until […]
Steel analyst Charles Bradford of Bradford Research spoke at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference this past week. He presented a relatively upbeat analysis of the domestic steel industry. He began by referring to a recent McKinsey and Company report which basically said, “The steel industry has had it, it’s over. The industry doesn’t make […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will spend $87 million over the next five years to upgrade the #2 and 3 coke batteries at its Dofasco mill. The repairs will help “improve the efficiency of our production and improve our environmental performance as well,” said company spokesman Tony Valeri, according to a report by The Spec. The company […]
ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Americas had sales of $4.9 billion in fourth quarter 2013, just slightly below sales for third quarter and up from $4.68 billion in Q4 2012. Crude steel production declined by 1.4 percent to 6.3 million tonnes q/q due to operational issues in Brazil and maintenance for Canadian operations. Steel shipments of 5.6 […]
One of the interesting tidbits that came out of the ArcelorMittal conference call last week was their intention of taking down the #7 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor for two months beginning in May. They also discussed the purchase of ThyssenKrupp which they feel will be completed by the end of March (end of 1st […]
I want to take a moment to thank Mark Bush, General Manager Mobile Operations for SSAB Americas as well as Brent Major of SSAB Americas for their hospitality during our tour of the SSAB Mobile steel facilities as part of our most recent Steel 101 workshop. Our group was impressed with the steelmaking as well […]
Imports of total flat rolled products increased in January to 990,803 tons from 852,840 in December. Total long products increased from 412,848 to 552,093 tons. Total sheet products as a sub set of flat rolled increased from 677,510 to 775,337 tons. Semi finished declined from 604,558 to 532.813 tons. An analysis of the 3 month […]