Light vehicle (autos + light trucks) production surged in October, up 13.5 percent, the rolling 3 months production was up by 13.1 percent. Year over year production was up by 8.3 percent in total and the Detroit 3 made up some ground being up 10.1 percent. Light vehicle production has now exceeded the pre-recession level […]
Metalforming companies expect improved business activity for the next three months after expressing pessimism in October. The November 2013 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report showed an uptick in the number of survey respondents who anticipate improvement in business conditions as well as improvement in new orders. Average daily shipping levels were above levels […]
Review of Manufacturing. October 31st 2013 Each month the Steel Market Update publishes a table of what we believe to be the most significant indicators of the state of the steel market and current results in the long and flat rolled sectors. We will be discussing one section of this table in detail each month, […]
It seems to be a foregone conclusion that there will be a flat rolled price increase announcement within the next few working days. Spot prices have remained firm with benchmark hot rolled averaging $665 per ton ($650-$680 range) based on our SMU index. Scrap is forecast to be up by $20 to $40 per gross […]
AM Castle, a metals and plastics distributor, reported a net loss of $6.9 million for the third quarter 2013, compared to net income of $3.2 million in Q3 2012. Consolidated net sales were $253 million down from $304 million in 2012. Metal sales in the third quarter were $220 million, a drop of 19.2 percent […]
U.S. Steel CEO, Mario Longhi told analysts this afternoon that the company will close its Hamilton, Ontario, Canada blast furnace by the end of the year. The company advised they will also close two coke batteries at U.S. Steel Gary Works (#5 & #7). The coke batteries and rolling mills at Hamilton Works will not […]
There has been great speculation and anticipation regarding the sale of the ThyssenKrupp Steel Americas steel mills since the parent company announced it was offering the plants for sale over one year ago. The Americas operations consist of the Calvert, Alabama facility as well as the CSA fully integrated slab mill with its two blast […]
SSAB Americas had sales of SEK 3,639 million ($575 million) in the third quarter of 2013 on shipments of 628 thousand tonnes (692,239 tons). Niche products accounted for 166 thousand tonnes (182,980 tons) or 26 percent of total shipments. In comparison, shipments were 16 percent higher year over year and 9 percent higher quarterly. Sales […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum increased sales 18.9 percent to $2.44 billion in the third quarter 2013 from $2.06 billion in third quarter 2012. Tons sold were up 31.3 percent year-over-year to 1.45 billion tons. Net income was $95.1 million, down 3.1 percent from $98.1 million in the third quarter of 2012 and up 17.4 percent from […]
NLMK USA steel sales totaled 451,000 metric tons (497,141 net tons) for third quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.1 percent from second quarter and 8.7 percent from third quarter 2012. The increase was due mostly to greater US sales for hot rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized steel—275,000 tonnes (303,135 net tons) and 65,000 tonnes […]
Steel Dynamics reported a strong third quarter net income of $57 million on net sales of $1.9 billion. In comparison, SDI reported $13 million net income on net sales of $1.7 billion in September 2012, and $29 million on net sales of $1.8 billion in second quarter 2013. “Our consolidated operating income increased 64 percent […]
Automotive production, sales and inventory in NAFTA through September 2013 Based on Ward’s automotive reports, total light vehicle, (LV) production was 1,390,175 units in September, down by 3.3 percent from August. Autos were down by 5.1 percent and light trucks by 1.8 percent. A better measure of direction is the three month rolling average of […]
The Certified Steel Stud Association (CSSA) recently squared off against the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) over galvanized coatings for steel stud. CSSA released a warning that G40e or G40EQ coated steel products are not a substitute for G40 coated steel studs. G40 is a hot-dipped galvanized coating (99 percent zinc) that is used to […]
Kloeckner Metals Co. announced the opening of a new light gauge flat rolled processing center at the ThyssenKrupp Steel USA plant site in Calvert, Alabama. The service center will provide toll processing for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA based on a long-term, owner-independent exclusive contract. The 100,000 square foot facility will offer slitting first and will later […]
Apparent steel use is expected to grow around 3 percent for both 2013 and 2014 says the World Steel Association in its Short Range Outlook. lobal steel demand is expected to increase to 1.475 billion metric tons in 2013, up 3.1 percent over 2012. WSA says steel use will continue its growth trend in 2014 […]
Severstal NA announced on Monday an increase in flat rolled steel base price in line with the ArcelorMittal announcement. Hot Rolled $34.00/cwt $680/net tonCold Rolled $39.50/cwt $790/net tonGalvanized $39.50/cwt $790/net ton In the company letter sent to their customers Severstal pointed to steady pace of automotive sales and demand […]
The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) is a monthly estimate by major industry of manufacturing output in the Seventh Federal Reserve District states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is a composite index of 15 manufacturing industries that uses hours worked data to measure monthly changes in regional activity. The official news […]
Big River Steel received its air quality permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on Sept. 19, clearing the way for final financing and preparation for construction. The company plans on breaking ground between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2013. The construction of the $1.1 billion plant is projected to take 18 months and provide […]
Furnace Outage Keeps AK from Taking Advantage of Higher Spot Prices AK Steel is expecting a loss for the third quarter that includes approximately $12 million uncovered by insurance related to an unplanned furnace outage in the third quarter. In its guidance released Thursday, the company said the blast furnace outage at Middletown Works reduced […]
ArcelorMittal plans to invest $25 million in improvements in its hot-dip galvanizing line at Cleveland Works bringing its total investment over the past ten years to more than $95 million. Louis Schorsch, of the company’s group management board, told attendees at a City Club Business Leaders event last week that Cleveland Works will be a […]
Steel Market Update conducted our mid-September flat rolled steel market survey this week. The survey began on Monday with an invitation to approximately 600 companies who are active participants in the flat rolled steel industry. Part of the survey includes questions regarding attitudes within the industry regarding how successful the respondents see their company both […]
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and Ternium SA announced the start-up of its joint venture steel operation, Tenigal, near Monterrey City, Mexico on Sept. 18. Tenigal is part of Ternium’s Pesqueria Project, a $1.1 billion steel complex that includes a cold-rolling plant with a 1.5 million ton annual capacity. Tenigal will produce automotive […]
Steel Dynamics offered guidance on Tuesday saying it anticipates a better third quarter as compared to the second quarter due to increase in shipments and average metal spread (spread being the difference between steel costs and selling prices). In the sheet steel segment higher volumes and better spread increased profits, while in the long products […]
In guidance remarks released Tuesday, Nucor Corp. said it expects the third quarter to outperform the second due to strong performance from its sheet and structural steel segment. Sheet steel improvements are attributed to competitor supply disruptions, customer inventory restocking and market demand improvement. The structural segment benefited from higher production following a planned maintenance […]
NAFTA Automotive production in August rebounded to 1.436 million units after the summer shut down. The annual rate in August was 17.243 million units. On a rolling 12 month basis production was 15.719 million units, up 5.9 percent from the 12 months through August a year ago. Growth has been slowing as production approached then […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has received many emails from our readers as well as interested parties regarding our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which we have had at Neutral since Friday, August 23, 2013. Since that time we have seen hot rolled pricing remain in the $630-$660 per ton level (see Comparison Price Indices article below) […]
Taylor Steel collaborated with Herr-Voss Stamco in order to produce the first slitting line specifically designed with the sole purpose of meeting the processing needs of the advanced high strength steels (AHSS) markets in North America. The new slitting line is using strand extensioning in combination with a 45 foot looping pit in order to […]
Worthington Industries announced that Ivan Meltzer has been named president of TWB Company, a laser welded blanking joint venture with Wuhan Iron and Steel Company. Meltzer will replace interim president and CFO Michael Lowrey, a 15 year veteran of the company, who will continue to serve as executive vice president and CFO. Meltzer is no […]
Severstal NA revenue for Q2 rose to $953 million from $930 million in the first quarter 2013. Demand growth was led by U.S. automotive, construction and pipe and tube industries. First half 2013 revenue, however, fell to $1,883 million from $2,158 million in H1 2012—a 12.7 percent loss. Severstal reported a utilization rate of almost […]
Sims Metal Management, a metals and electronics recycler headquartered in Australia, announced North American results for FY 2013 ending June 30, 2013. Underlying EBITDA for North American operations rose 30 percent year-over-year to $102.3 million. (Underlying EBITDA is a measure of the actual profits realized by a company used for business process planning, rather than […]