U.S. Steel announced that it has completed $1.1 billion of financing activity that will support its previously announced growth projects. “The closing of these financing activities marks another successful step in the execution of our ‘best of both’ strategy,” said President and CEO David B. Burritt. “I am thankful for the strong support from our […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Monday, I spoke to the North American Steel Alliance (NASA) in Chicago. My comments centered on a wide variety of proprietary indices Steel Market Update produces–our flat rolled and plate indices, SMU Sentiment Index, SMU Service Center Inventories and Shipments data, Mill Lead Times and […]
Steel price volatility was persistent in 2019, said CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores at the FMA/ASD Executive Networking Series held in Pittsburgh last week. U.S. economic growth was below the historical trend throughout 2019, but has improved since April, according to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Activity in two key steel sectors, fabricated metal products and […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update The Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been a mirror of the comments made by buyers of flat rolled and plate steel over the past few days. Our Sentiment Index, which measures how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to […]
Even after selling nearly half the company to U.S. Steel, Big River Steel intends to move ahead with its plans for a new EAF mill in Brownville, Texas, according to comments from CEO Dave Stickler to S&P Global Platts. Stickler said that a development company has been formed called Brownsville Investment Group LLC to handle […]
U.S. Steel unrolled a new operating model on Tuesday that is expected to deliver $200 million of annual fixed cost savings by 2022. The new model includes a realignment of the company’s leadership team. The changes will be effective Jan. 1, 2020, and closely follow the recently announced investment in Big River Steel. “Our enhanced […]
With U.S. Steel buying almost 50 percent of Big River Steel and holding an option on the remainder over the next four years, SMU thought it an appropriate time to review the list of announced changes being made by the mills in the United States, Canada and Mexico. We reviewed this listing with the four […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Analyst Ryan Smith U.S. Steel has announced a 49.9 percent stock acquisition with an option to acquire the remaining 51.1 percent within the next four years, in smaller rival U.S. flat products new entrant Big River Steel. In its announcement, U.S. Steel labelled this acquisition, alongside its investment […]
Our last issue sparked our readers to comment on a couple of topics. We addressed the Bayou Steel comments in another article in tonight’s issue. I will address the comments I received from U.S. Steel regarding their purchase of a portion of Big River Steel and the exposure to electrical steels (something I have never […]
U.S. Steel announced today it will acquire a 49.9 percent ownership interest in Big River Steel at a purchase price of $700 million with the intent to acquire the remaining shares within the next four years. U.S. Steel has committed financing to execute the transaction. The implied enterprise value of Big River is approximately $2.325 […]
The news today that U.S. Steel plans to purchase a 49.9 percent interest in Big River Steel, with an option to buy the rest within the next four years, surprised the market. But most of the steel buyers polled by Steel Market Update view the pairing of one of the nation’s oldest integrated producers with […]
U.S. Steel announced today a joint venture partnership agreement under which it has taken the first step towards acquiring Big River Steel through the purchase of a 49.9 percent ownership interest at a purchase price of approximately $700 million in cash, with a call option to acquire the remaining 50.1 percent within the next four years. […]
U.S. Steel did what many analysts thought was impossible – they announced they are acquiring a 49.9 percent interest in Big River Steel. I wrote about this last week as a possibility and mentioned some of the reasons at that time why this deal might happen. According to Big River Steel’s announcement, the $700 million […]
For those of you who are not aware, my Final Thoughts is an area where I will sometimes provide my opinion or view of the marketplace. Understand that these are my comments and are not coming from any steel mills, service centers, trading companies or the financial community. You can take them or leave them; […]
Do plans by U.S. mills to add millions of tons of new steelmaking capacity over the next few years make a price-killing supply glut inevitable? That’s a question very much open to debate, as shown by the spirited exchange between three leading analysts during Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit Aug. 28 in Atlanta. Despite some […]
A number of maintenance outages are scheduled at U.S. steel mills in the coming months with the majority to occur in October. Blast furnaces at AK Steel Dearborn, ArcelorMittal Cleveland and Burns Harbor, and U.S. Steel Gary Works are scheduled for maintenance in October, representing an estimated 495,050 tons of steel capacity temporarily removed from the […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to announce the recipient of the first SMU NexGen Leadership Award is Meredith Meade at Tempel Steel Company. Ms. Meade was presented her award by Steel Manufacturers Association CEO Philip Bell. SMA sponsored this year’s award, which attracted 21 highly qualified nominees from 18 companies. The finalists for the award were Ms. […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association announced today that Big River Steel has joined the association. SMA President Philip Bell welcomed BRS as an “epicenter for steelmaking innovation.” Big River Steel is located in Osceola, Ark. It calls itself the world’s first Flex Mill, merging the wide product mix and superior grade capabilities of an integrated mill […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. Steel recently announced its intent to withdraw from spot market-linked adjustable price contracts in 2020 (i.e. contracts where the price moves with the spot market in some way). The following offers insight on the use of such contracts and what may come about if the intended change is […]
Nearly 1,000 executives are registered with just two weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our 9th […]
For the past three days, I have been studying the nominations of 21 young individuals who were nominated by their companies for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, which this year is being sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The process has been exhilarating to say the least. I decided many years ago that as […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to announce we have closed the nomination process for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, and we have 21 solid candidates. Steel Market Update and the Steel Manufacturers Association want to say “well done” to each of the candidates and their nominating company. The judges will be reviewing the nominations […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
Steel Market Update and the Steel Manufacturers Association are committed to promoting youth and encouraging more young people to consider careers in the steel and manufacturing industries. The 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award is just one of the ways we are recognizing the existing talent within the industry. There is still time to get in […]
Over 800 executives are registered with just seven weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our […]
Over 800 executives are registered with just seven weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our […]
By Chris Houlden, CRU Research Manager CRU held its annual Steel Briefing in New York City on June 17. This Insight summarizes the key takeaways from papers presented by CRU North America market specialists Josh Spoores and Ryan McKinley. • Up to 20 Mt of new hot-rolling and over 8 Mt of steelmaking capacity could come […]
More than 700 executives are registered with slightly more than two months to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center (www.gicc.com) will be the […]
More than 700 executives are registered with slightly more than two months to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center (www.gicc.com) will be the […]