Robust demand offset increased vehicle pricing and higher interest rates last month, keeping U.S. auto sales strong in October, although weaker than a year ago. October sales were expected to be impacted by replacement buying due to hurricane damage in the South. There was also one extra selling day in the month. “Many signs in […]
MSC Smart Steel® from Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) is one of 35 finalists for the 2019 Automotive News PACE Awards. The prestigious PACE program honors automotive suppliers for advanced levels of technical achievement, superior innovation and business excellence. “MSC Smart Steel is a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low carbon […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute continues to support the Trump administration’s plan to ease vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards. In a submission to the EPA during the public comment period that ended Oct. 26, AISI expressed its support of the general direction of the proposal, which would establish a standard that balances the […]
AK Steel reported its best third quarter in 10 years with net income of $67.2 million and a 39 percent year-over-year jump in adjusted EBITDA to $160.8 million. Steady shipment levels and higher steel selling prices and shipments more than offset higher costs for certain raw materials, transportation and supplies, including graphite electrodes, said the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported its second highest quarterly net sales in the company’s history. Third-quarter net sales jumped 21.4 percent year-over-year to $2.97 billion, down just 0.5 percent from the record set in the second quarter at $2.99 billion. Reliance net income for the quarter of $148.2 million was impacted by a $36.8 million […]
Trade measures by the U.S. are causing concern for the European steel market, according to a new report by the European Union steel association EUROFER. Steel imports are growing faster than domestic shipments by EU mills, according to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2018-2019. “Growth is stabilizing in EU steel markets, in line with […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. is now the sole owner of Acero Prime and its affiliate Acero Prime Servicios, a toll processor with four locations in Mexico. Reliance was the majority owner but purchased the remaining 40 percent interest from joint venture partner U.S. Steel. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Acquiring the remaining […]
Ternium USA Inc. will invest $14.7 million to expand and upgrade its facility at The Port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, La. Ternium will overhaul its galvanizing line and complete other capital upgrades to optimize plant operations and logistics. Upgrading the galvanizing line will yield an additional 42,000 metric tons per year of coated products. “In […]
Pittsburgh, PA, October 18, 2018 – Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI) announced today it has signed an agreement to provide carbon steel hot-rolling conversion services for NLMK USA at ATI’s world-class Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility, or HRPF, located in Brackenridge, PA. Slab shipments to ATI will begin immediately and increase to anticipated production levels in […]
Steel Dynamics announced record financial results for third-quarter 2018. Sales for the quarter totaled $3.2 billion for a net income of $398 million compared to prior-year third-quarter sales of $2.4 billion and net income of $153 million. “Our third-quarter 2018 income from operations of $532 million and adjusted EBITDA of $626 million were both record […]
ArcelorMittal announced a binding offer from Liberty House Group for the purchase of ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia) and ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy). The transaction is part of a divestment package agreed to by ArcelorMittal with the European Commission for the €1.8 billion acquisition of Italian steel mill Ilva. The ArcelorMittal […]
AK Steel has received an award of up to $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund its research into low-density steels, which could ultimately be used in automotive structural applications. AK Steel will work on a three-year project in collaboration with DOE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Colorado School […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: A question came up this week about production and changing tariff codes for products to avoid or minimize tariffs. Understanding options depends on the issue of how tariff classifications are changed through processing. And if […]
Union Partners has acquired the assets of Xcel Steel’s pickling operations in Dearborn, Mich., effective Oct. 5. The division has joined Union Partners-owned Maksteel and will now operate under the name Maksteel Processing. As this transition occurs, there will be no interruption in service to customers, the company said. The Detroit location of Xcel Steel Processing will continue […]
U.S. automotive sales fell 5.5 percent year-over-year in September. Depending on one’s perspective, they were either good, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate 17.54 million, or a portent of worse times to come. General Motors, which no longer reports monthly sales, said third-quarter sales plunged 11 percent and estimates put September sales down a dismal […]
After months of contentious bargaining, the U.S. has reached a new trilateral trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA. In last minute negotiations, Canada agreed to give the U.S. increased dairy market access while retaining the Chapter 19 trade remedy dispute settlement. The new treaty, to be called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), will […]
The renegotiated NAFTA, now called USMCA (the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement), still needs to be ratified in Mexico, the United States and Canada, but it is generating a plethora of commentary, both supportive and cautious. The new deal reached late Sunday “provides certainty to financial markets and supports investment and job creation in our country,” said incoming […]
Despite moderating prices, the outlook for the U.S. steel market is generally favorable for 2019, reported Josh Spoores, CRU Principal Analyst for North America, during a CRU Webinar on Friday. The Trump administration’s Section 232 steel tariff has limited competition from steel imports this year. Steel sheet arrivals into the U.S. are down 12 percent […]
Two U.S. Steel executives will swap duties as part of an executive development process that exposes leadership to varying roles within the company. Effective Oct. 1, Scott D. Buckiso, currently serving as Senior Vice President – European Solutions and President, U. S. Steel Košice, will become Senior Vice President – Automotive Solutions. James E. Bruno, […]
PTC Alliance has reached a new four-year labor agreement with union workers at its Alliance, Ohio, plant. PTC Alliance manufactures welded and cold drawn mechanical steel tubing. The company employs about 220 workers covered by the Steelworkers contract, signed Sept. 23. Terms of the pact were not disclosed. The company’s relations with the union have […]
The percentage of manufacturing companies and service centers reporting distributor spot prices as weakening is nearing the SMU level of capitulation. Capitulation is the point at which steel distributors are panicking and dumping what is perceived as high-priced steel into the spot market at ever lower prices. The process feeds on itself and the distributors […]
I am a new subscriber to your newsletter, but I’m not new to manufacturing. Most of my career was spent working at a medium-sized machining company located in the Southeast, which specialized in production machining mainly to support automotive companies and other assembly plants in the United States. Over the past three decades, I have […]
AK Steel co-hosted Steel Market Update’s first Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop this week at the $36 million AK Research and Innovation Center opened last year in Middletown, Ohio. The beautiful 135,000-square-foot facility made AK Steel’s commitment to R&D readily apparent to the 40+ students and staff assembled […]
Nucor Corp. announced plans to invest $650 million to expand the production capability at Nucor Steel Gallatin. The upgrade would increase the Kentucky flat rolled sheet mill’s capability to 3.0 million tons annually from its current level of 1.6 million tons. In addition, the maximum coil width would be increased to 73 inches. The facility […]
Global steel production in August achieved an annual rate of 1.821 billion metric tons. Capacity is calculated to be 2.4 billion metric tons; therefore, capacity utilization was 76 percent, according to the latest Steel Market Update analysis of World Steel Association data. In three months through August, China’s steel production grew by 9.0 percent year […]
Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine will move part of U.S. automotive parts production to Mexico to avoid steel import tariffs. Voestalpine has 48 U.S. sites that primarily use domestic steel but about one third of company revenue relies on plate and specialty imported steels that are not produced in the United States. U.S. production accounts for one […]
Automotive sales remained healthy in August with most automotive manufacturers reporting at least moderate sales growth year-over-year. FCA US led sales with an increase of 10 percent for August. Ford sales were up 4.1 percent and Hyundai 6.0 percent. Toyota sales dropped 2 percent. Sales for German automaker Volkswagen inched up 0.7 percent while Mercedes-Benz […]
Distributors of secondary steel report generally positive market conditions, though the nonprime sector has experienced a bit of a lull in recent weeks. Secondary steel is nonprime or excess material that did not meet the specifications for its original intended use, but is acceptable to other buyers for other applications. The spot market on nonprime […]
A group representing the United States’ leading auto manufacturers, parts suppliers, auto dealers, parts distributors, retailers and vehicle service providers have formed the Driving American Jobs Coalition to oppose potential new Trump administration tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts. The coalition argues that imposing new auto tariffs will cause “massive job losses and […]
North Star BlueScope may receive funding for an expansion that will add 600,000 to 900,000 metric tons of annual capacity to the Delta, Ohio, facility. Australian parent company BlueScope has initiated a comprehensive study to determine the feasibility of a $500 million to $700 million investment that would include a possible third electric arc furnace […]