The COVID-19 pandemic is not stopping CEO Lourenco Goncalves. “We are back on track and ready to fulfill our vision for the new Cleveland-Cliffs, which includes our mines and pellet plants, AK Steel, AK Tube, Precision Partners and our new HBI plant.” Having set his sights on the auto industry and already dedicating more than […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot rolled futures volumes have been a bit uneven as forecast uncertainty remains while businesses continue to navigate through a difficult summer […]
Olympic Steel posted a net loss of $6.5 million for the second quarter of 2020. Sales totaled $248 million, down from $429 million in Q2 2019 due to lower average selling prices and a significant decline in shipments as a result of pandemic-related shutdowns, including the automotive industry. “As the pandemic began to affect the […]
Auto sales are beginning to recover momentum after the pandemic-related shutdowns of the second quarter. The market hit bottom in April, but sales began picking up once mandatory shutdowns eased. Auto manufacturers have been successful in ramping up production and are working to increase inventory. Ward’s Intelligence and ALG Inc. estimate that the seasonally adjusted […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On an earnings call last week, Aditya Mittal, president and CFO of ArcelorMittal, the single largest steel producer in the world, stated that “Section 232 has been successful because it has spurred a lot of investment in the […]
“Second-quarter results are a reminder of why we have to change,” said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt, during his quarterly conference. The second quarter marked the trough of a challenging year, he said, as U.S. Steel remains focused on its “best of both” strategy, which includes the acquisition of EAF mill Big River […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is getting back to normal after idling 15 facilities in three months due to the impacts of COVID-19. As of today, all facilities, including the AK Steel Dearborn furnace, are back to operation with the exception of North Shore and Tilden, which will resume next week. Idling costs of around $50 million will be […]
Metals processor and distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. recorded revenue of $772 million for the second quarter of 2020, a plunge of 35.9 percent from a year ago and 23.6 percent sequentially. Shipments fell 25.8 percent to 462,000 tons. Average selling price declined 13.6 percent to $1,671 per ton. The company reduced warehousing, delivery, general and […]
Learning to do more with less during the COVID crisis is bringing structural changes to ArcelorMittal, said Aditya Mittal, president and CFO of the world’s largest integrated steel and mining company, during today’s second-quarter report to analysts and investors. Without offering specifics about which assets will be affected in pursuit of cost savings, Mittal said […]
Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian has had quite the year, taking the reins of Nucor in January and then steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike Nucor’s blast furnace competitors, the EAF-based steelmaker was able to continue operations relatively unabated during the past two quarters. “Our ability to continue operating, along with proactive […]
Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian has had quite the year, taking the reins of Nucor in January and then steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike Nucor’s blast furnace competitors, the EAF-based steelmaker was able to continue operations relatively unabated during the past two quarters. “Our ability to continue operating, along with proactive […]
NLMK USA saw shipments plummet 39 percent quarter-over-quarter to 330,000 metric tons as steel demand dropped in Q2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue fell 37 percent to $238 million. EBITDA was $3 million compared to -$22 million in Q1 and was attributed to “widening of the slabs to rolled product price spread” as well […]
Below is the agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. Rising from the Ashes All timings are in EST and all Agenda items will be available on-demand as well as live Monday, August 24, 2020 08:00 AM How to Get the Most from the Virtual Conference: […]
Below is the agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. Rising from the Ashes All timings are in EST and all Agenda items will be available on-demand as well as live Monday, August 24, 2020 08:00 AM How to Get the Most from the Virtual Conference: […]
U.S. Steel plans to restart the No. 8 blast furnace at Gary Works on Aug. 1 in response to improved demand from automotive and other sectors. The 1.2-million-ton furnace was idled in April. “Gary Works is restoring this capacity to satisfy the very strong demand we are seeing from key contract customers with the reemergence […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum, the industry’s largest service center organization, is expecting a slight increase in demand during the third quarter of 2020 after sales dropped 21.5 percent from the first to the second quarter to $2.02 billion. Shipments for the second quarter declined 17.5 percent to 1.2 million tons with an average selling price […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of financial market trading experience and has been active in the ferrous futures space for eight years. David earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in economics, statistics and analytical finance. […]
NOTE: Steel Market Update will be moving to a new Azure server tomorrow. Most of the day our website will be down as we make the transition. The website should be back up on Saturday and we intend to publish on Sunday as usual, barring any technical difficulties. We are in an interesting time for […]
We are in an interesting time for the steel industry. The pandemic is just one factor behind the stress in the market. The price increase announcements by the integrated steel mills, U.S. Steel, AK Steel and ArcelorMittal, have created another issue for steel buyers. An executive with U.S. Steel saw the slides associated with yesterday’s […]
The trough for steel volume, particularly for flat rolled steel, has passed and the second half looks promising, said Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millett. Back orders are strong and order intake rates have picked up due to increasing demand as businesses resume operations following COVID-19 shutdowns. “It is still not possible to determine the full […]
Wholesalers who sell HVAC and galvanized steel products to the construction sector report a market that is sharply split. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) said demand from residential building is surprisingly healthy despite the coronavirus pandemic, while nonresidential/commercial construction is weakening. “I have […]
The July Federal Reserve “Beige Book” showed economic activity increased in almost all Districts, but was far below pre-pandemic levels. Information from Districts collected on or prior to July 6 revealed a pickup in consumer spending as states began lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Automotive sales led the rebound in consumer activity as well as sustained growth […]
By CRU Principal Analyst James Campbell, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Sheet demand collapsed in 2020 Q2 to the lowest level in a decade. As lockdowns eased in May, manufacturing activity improved, and prices increased in most regions. Global sheet demand is expected to improve in 2020 Q3 and accelerate in 2021. However, output will […]
Shipping on the Great Lakes is feeling the stress of a pandemic-weakened steel industry. Automotive shutdowns this year reduced demand for steel products, which in turn led to the temporary idling of several integrated mills. Less steel production means less demand for taconite pellets that are shipped by lake carriers from the Iron Range. “When […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Sheet prices in July at best rose very weakly, or else only held steady or fell in a number of markets versus our June 10 price assessments. The domestic Chinese market was alone in showing more than just a slight m/m gain. CRU’s […]
In stark contrast to the mostly bad news related to the coronavirus pandemic, the North American steel industry is celebrating the new USMCA trade agreement that took effect last week. “Entry into force of the USMCA represents a significant achievement by the United States, Canada and Mexico that will benefit the North American steel industry […]
“Blunt force demand trauma.” That is how Ryerson President & CEO Eddie Lehner described the market environment as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. One really can’t use the word “unprecedented” too much when discussing the effects of the pandemic on the economy and industry, said Lehner. Losing 30 percent of demand in 30 days […]
U.S. auto sales plunged in the second quarter as the COVID-19 crisis shut down production and severely curtailed consumer buying. The decline in sales was the largest since the Great Recession, falling by about a third from Q2 2019 levels. Results could have been worse, said analysts, if not for higher than expected sales in […]
The 2020 SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference is coming together very nicely. Steel Market Update and our parent company the CRU Group have been working diligently on the agenda for the 2020 SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference. We have been adding new speakers to the group we already had committed for the live event, and […]
For the second year in a row, Nucor Corp. was recognized as a General Motors Supplier of the Year during a virtual ceremony on June 24. Less than 1 percent of GM’s suppliers receive this award. Nucor remains the only electric arc furnace steelmaker to get this recognition. Supplier of the Year award winners were […]