The United Steelworkers (USW) union resumed face-to-face labor talks with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and United States Steel Corp. this week in Pittsburgh after a brief hiatus for the USW’s 2022 Constitutional Convention Aug. 8–11 in Las Vegas. Current labor agreements with the two flat-rolled steelmakers are due to expire on Sept. 1. Cleveland-Cliffs Update In an […]
US Steel is trying to keep a stiff upper lip despite lower flat-rolled steel selling prices, continued supply chain problems, and an uneven economic outlook. “Let’s face it. There’s a lot of uncertainty. Some people say more uncertainty than ever before,” company president and CEO David Burritt said. “I’m not so sure that’s true. But […]
Leaders of the American steel industry gathered with members of the Congressional Steel Caucus on Wednesday in Washington, to discuss the state of the industry and how Congress can continue to support this critically important sector of the economy. Topics of discussion at the Caucus hearing included building and supporting critical supply chains and domestic manufacturing, […]
We’ve been covering the latest turn of the screw in contract talks between US and Canadian steelmakers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union. Some of you have asked us lately what the key dates and companies are. Below is a summary of where things stand – rhetoric and minutia aside – with USW and Canadian […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) and United States Steel Corp. got underway with master contract bargaining talks this week, and they got straight down to business, according an update sent to union members. The USW struck a hopeful tone in early talks with Cliffs. The tone in an update on bargaining with USS was more business-like. The notice […]
As it prepares to take over the two blast furnaces at US Steel’s Granite City Works in Illinois, SunCoke Energy is joining the contract negotiations in Pittsburgh that started this week between US Steel and the United Steelworkers union. It was announced last month that SunCoke and US Steel have signed a non-binding letter of […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) is preparing to start master contract bargaining with US Steel in the first half of July, according to communications sent to union members. Local union chapters will send representatives to the master negotiations, which are being held in Pittsburgh and which will likely begin next week, a union spokesman told Steel […]
Approximately 950 jobs could be lost at US Steel’s Granite City Works near St. Louis once the mill stops making steel, a company spokeswoman confirmed. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker currently employs approximately 1,500 people at the mill. There would be an estimated 550 employees when the shift to pig iron production happens in 2024. “There is […]
It’s going to be a long, hot summer. I was thinking we might start to see the “summer doldrums” ahead of the long Independence Day weekend. Instead we’ve gotten a barrage of news on prices, US Steel and labor contract talks. Let’s start with prices. Our average hot-rolled coil price fell below $1,000 per ton […]
US Steel plans to stop making steel at its Granite City Works near St. Louis in the second half of 2024, a company spokeswoman told Steel Market Update on Tuesday. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expects that the mill’s blast furnaces will switch over to pig iron production as part of a deal with SunCoke Energy Inc., […]
Business is booming for global metals plant technology and equipment provider SMS group Inc. amid growing demand for decarbonization and recycling technologies. Order intake during 2021 for the Düsseldorf, Germany-based company was at its highest level in ten years at €3.5 billion. This year that number is expected to be comparable, with the company expecting […]
Construction of a new pig iron caster has begun at US Steel’s Gary Works with start-up expected early next year. US Steel employees joined United Steelworkers leaders and others this week in Indiana to celebrate the $60 million investment. The company’s Minntac and Keetac Minnesota ore operations will feed the pig iron facility, which […]
SteelZero has released a series of suggestions in a new policy paper that it feels governments must take to support and speed up the global steel industry’s goals of achieving net zero emissions. SteelZero, a global initiative led by international non-profit Climate Group in partnership with ResponsibleSteel, believes decision makers in government first need to […]
Carbon border adjustments could be an effective tool for rewarding clean steel production, but any efforts need to be comprehensive and very closely monitored, US steel industry executives said this week during the Town Hall Forum at the Association of Iron & Steel Technology’s AISTech 2022. To truly be effective, carbon border adjustments need to […]
Editor’s note: Paul Lowrey did a presentation at the Tampa Steel Conference in February 2022 covering a range of industry issues. It was well received by the audience. and SMU asked him to do it again at Steel Summit 2022 with updates. This is an excerpt of his anticipated presentation. I’m approaching 30 years in […]
Zekelman Industries’ Atlas Tube subsidiary has officially opened its second tube mill in Blytheville, Ark. The new 515,000-square-foot facility – which came at an investment of $150 million – is the largest continuous electric resistance welding (ERW) mill in the world, the company said. The new plant can produce jumbo hollow structural sections (HSS) from […]
US Steel is no longer importing pig iron from Ukraine and Russia for its Big River Steel Works – now the official name of its Osceola, Ark., electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has also mostly weaned its integrated steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, off Russian raw materials as well, they said. […]
We’ve all grown used to worrying about global supply chains and their shortcomings – as underscored by the pandemic, the chip shortage and the war in Ukraine. But it’s important not to forget that foreign supply chains aren’t the only ones that can get tangled up. And exotic problems don’t mean that long-standing issues – […]
Earlier this week, US Steel and Big River Steel notified customers of an upward revision to their galvanized steel coating extras. New USS extras are effective May 29, 2022, while BRS extras are effective June 4, 2022. “Input costs of zinc and aluminum for our Hot Dipped Galvanized and Galvalume products have continued to rise, […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) has hired risk management and hedging experts Brad Clark and Sean Kessler as directors of Flack Metal Bank (FMB). The additions of Clark and Kessler will help expand FMB’s ferrous metals trading desk, improving risk management and hedging strategies to complement its customers’ current supply chains, the company said. FGM launched […]
Voestalpine is in advanced talks to sell a majority stake in its hot-briquetted iron (HBI) plant in southern Texas, the company said. “In recent months, Voestalpine has been conducting an open-ended market sounding to stabilize the business model of its direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas.” The Austrian specialty steelmaker didn’t disclose a potential […]
U.S. Steel Corp. expects to see record EBITDA for the first quarter totaling approximately $1.3 billion, a new all-time high for the period. In guidance issued Thursday, the steelmaker forecast adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $2.96 to $3.00. “We expect to deliver another strong quarter of safety, adjusted EBITDA, free cash […]
U.S. Steel Corp. is investing $60 million at Gary Works to give the Indiana mill the capability to produce up to 500,000 tons of pig iron annually and provide a critical raw material for the steelmaker’s electric arc furnaces. Once complete in the first half of 2023, pig iron production at Gary will provide nearly […]
U.S. Steel Corp. has officially broken ground on the expansion of its Big River Steel electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Osceola, Ark. The ceremony was attended by U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt as well as local and state officials. The project features an endless casting and rolling facility – the first of […]
U.S. Steel has named Daniel R. Brown as Senior Vice President of Advanced Technology Steelmaking and Chief Operating Officer of its Big River Steel Works. Brown, who held the position of vice president at BRS, will not only lead the flat rolled steel production presently in place at BRS, but also the new minimill in Osceola, Ark., […]
U.S. Steel joined competitors Nucor Corp. and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) in posting record annual profits. But the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s fourth-quarter net earnings were significantly lower than those in the third quarter. U.S. Steel recorded net earnings of $1.07 billion in the final quarter of 2021, down 46.5% from $2.00 billion in the third quarter […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) has hired industry veteran Keith Shuttlesworth as the new Executive Vice President of Flack Metal Bank (FMB). With over two decades of commercial and procurement experience, Shuttlesworth will spearhead FMB’s efforts to increase market awareness of its financial tools, which help customers implement risk management and hedging strategies to complement their […]
Among the attributes of the new, advanced minimill U.S. Steel plans to build in Osceola, Ark., next to its Big River Steel plant, is endless casting and rolling technology that will make the facility the first of its kind in the United States. What is endless casting and rolling, and what competitive advantages will it […]
Nucor Corp. has confirmed that its greenfield, $2.7 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill will be built in West Virginia. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the mill, expected to have capacity of three million tons per year, would be located in Mason County along the Ohio River. Additional sites in northern West Virginia are […]
U.S. Steel will invest $3 billion in a new state-of-the-art minimill in Osceola, Ark., near its Big River Steel plant. This new minimill will combine two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) with 3 million tons per year of advanced steelmaking and finishing capabilities, highlighted by the first endless casting and rolling facility in the U.S. Construction […]