Marubeni-Itochu Steel America Inc. (MISA) has acquired Worthington Specialty Processing (WSP), a joint venture between Worthington Industries and United States Steel Corp. The New York-based value-added steel and aluminum processor and North American subsidiary of Japan’s Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. acquired WSP’s only remaining facility in Jackson, Mich. in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed sum. […]
Sticking with a business model that’s proven successful over the past three decades, David Stickler and his team at Global Principal Partners (GPP) hope to make their next endeavor with Hybar’s two new rebar minimills another prosperous one. Steel Market Update sat down with the industry veteran this week in an exclusive interview to discuss […]
By CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook Despite some slightly better-than-expected data for Q3, we have further revised down our forecast for 2023. We continue to believe that stubbornly high inflation, the energy crisis, and China’s domestic problems will lead to a sharp slowdown in world growth, with outright recessions in […]
Steel prices declined each week in October, with all sheet products now back in line with late-2020 levels. Hot rolled prices averaged $736 per net ton ($36.80 per cwt) in October, falling from $765 in the beginning of the month to $710 as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products was […]
Arkansas has become a hub for steel production in the southern US, and it will soon be home to another steel mill. Hybar, a newly formed company led by steel industry veteran David Stickler, announced it will build a $500 million greenfield minimill to produce rebar in northeast Arkansas just outside of Osceola. The new […]
The Brazilian ambassador to the US said it’s time for the removal of Section 232 tariffs and quotas in an editorial sent to the Wall Street Journal. The 232 tariffs and quotas have been in effect for more than four years – since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a […]
The reshoring of US manufacturing, nonresidential construction, and semiconductor manufacturing are key areas where Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. remains incredibly bullish. Speaking on the company’s third quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Thurs., Oct. 27, executives expressed their optimism for these markets. Reshoring/nearshoring is “legit,” and the company is “pumped up about it,” […]
US Steel does not currently have any plans to bring back recently idled blast furnaces as it awaits an improvement in market conditions. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker in September indefinitely idled the No. 3 Edgar Thomson blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania and also the No. 8 BF at its Gary Works […]
Somewhat better-than-expected demand helped service center behemoth Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. achieve strong third-quarter sales. And despite macroeconomic uncertainty, inflation, continuing supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical issues, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company anticipates healthy demand trends to continue in the current quarter, according to its Q3 earnings report released on Thursday, Oct. 27. The company […]
Engineered shapes producer McDonald Steel Corp. is adding plate processing capabilities to its portfolio via the acquisition of General Steel Corp. Mac Steel GSC Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of McDonald Steel, recently acquired the assets of General Steel, a Cleveland-based plate service center and processor, for an undisclosed sum. The addition of plate processing capabilities naturally […]
Galvanized prices continue to drop, as discussed during this month’s call of the Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council of the Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI). Prices have been steadily dropping for the past six months despite stable demand. A few highlights from the call include the differential between hot-rollled and cold-rolled coil being in […]
The strong performance of SSAB Americas was a bright spot in Swedish parent company SSAB’s third quarter earnings report as the company’s European segment was impacted by weaker demand and low shipments. SSAB Americas posted Q3 operating profit of SEK 3,036 million (US$276.65 million) — a 61% improvement from the same quarter of 2021. The […]
Demand for design services from US architecture firms continued to grow in September, though the pace of growth declined month-on-month (MoM). The September AIA Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score slipped last month after rising for the first time in five months in August. Despite the MoM decline, the development also marked the 20th consecutive month of […]
The Biden administration is pushing its Federal Buy Clean Initiative to reduce carbon emissions from American industry and to support the purchase of low-carbon, made-in-America construction materials. The administration last week lauded two domestic steelmakers for their commitments to lower emissions and for participating in the initiative. Cleveland-Cliffs is the first domestic steel producer to […]
Nearly two-thirds of US states added construction jobs month-on-month (MoM) in September. Most also boosted construction employment during the past twelve months, according to Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) figures. AGC said the job gains were welcome news even if significant labor shortages probably prevented an even bigger upswing in employment. “While it is encouraging […]
Nucor Corp.’s $650 million expansion project at Nucor Steel Gallatin in Ghent, Ky., will not reach its nameplate capacity of 3 million tons per year by the end of the year, Leon Topalian, Nucor’s chair, president, and CEO, said on an earnings conference call with analysts on Thursday, Oct. 20. “The ramp-up at Nucor Steel […]
Nucor Corp.’s new $1.35 billion plate mill in Brandenburg, Ky., remains on track to start up late in the fourth quarter of this year, with “meaningful production” to occur in the first quarter of 2023, Leon Topalian, Nucor’s chair, president, and CEO said on an earnings conference call with analysts on Thursday, Oct. 20. The […]
A strong performance from its steel fabrication operations offset lower earnings within its flat rolled steel business, resulting in another strong quarter for Steel Dynamics Inc. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and recycler reported net income of $914 million on sales of $5.65 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. While sales were 11% […]
A new railcar manufacturing facility will soon be built in Washington County, Md. Hitachi Rail announced plans for a $70 million factory to build all types of trains to meet growing demand in North America’s rail market. Construction of the facility’s building will use 1,050 tons of steel including joists, girders, and structural steel columns. […]
Investing further in its US operations, agricultural and heavy equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. is reshoring production of a certain cotton harvester model back from China. The steel end user is expanding its operations in Thibodaux, La., with a $29.8 million investment, according to a news release from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. A new […]
Builder confidence fell for the tenth straight month in October, while traffic of prospective buyers fell to its lowest level since 2012 (excluding the two-month period at the onset of the pandemic), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said. The report, in conjunction with the Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), said that rising […]
By CRU Senior Analyst, Puneet Paliwal, from CRU’s Scrap, DRI/HBI & Pig Iron Monitor Global scrap prices stay subdued while those of ore-based metallics have found some support. Overall metallics demand continues to be hampered by the steel market weakness, a trend which may sustain through the short term, particularly in Europe. The CRU metallics price […]
News that the Biden Administration is considering a total ban on Russian aluminum imports lifted the market Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 11. The LME aluminum three-month price increased sharply to a high of $2,400 per ton before some of the gains were reversed by the close. The price saw some volatile shifts during the week but […]
Green iron startup company Electra has raised $85 million to support its production of low-temperature iron (LTI). The process will utilize commercial and low-grade ores and zero-carbon electricity. The Boulder, Colo.- based company focuses on iron refining without a green premium and is backed by various organizations, including the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, […]
ArcelorMittal has broken ground on its $1.8 billion CAD ($1.3 billion USD) project to decrease the carbon intensity of its steelmaking. The ground-breaking ceremony comes just about a year after the Hamilton, Ontario-based steelmaker announced the initial federal subsidy granted for the investment. ArcelorMittal Dofasco, a subsidiary of multinational ArcelorMittal SA, is working towards decreasing […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex who has been active in the metals markets for two years. In his role, Mike performs fundamental and quantitative analysis which directly leads to actionable trading/risk management strategies across the base, precious and ferrous metals derivative spaces. Prior to joining Marex, Mike received […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex who has been active in the metals markets for two years. In his role, Mike performs fundamental and quantitative analysis which directly leads to actionable trading/risk management strategies across the base, precious and ferrous metals derivative spaces. Prior to joining Marex, Mike received […]
Commercial Metals Co. posted solid results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, helping make the company’s fiscal year 2022 the best financial performance in its 107-year history. CMC’s North American segment saw strong demand for it finished long products during the quarter, as well as meaningful increases in downstream bid volumes. Destocking activity […]
The prices contractors pay for construction materials and services — chiefly for new nonresidential construction — jumped 12.6% year-on-year (YoY) in September despite a slight 0.2% decline month-on-month (MoM), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported in its latest analysis of government data. AGC cautioned that the industry is suffering mostly from inflation, and […]
Independent hot-dip galvanizer and coil coater AZZ Inc. achieved record sales in the second quarter (ended Aug. 31) of its fiscal 2023 year. The quarter was the first to include results from Precoat Metals, whose acquisition was completed in May of this year. Total Q2 sales reached $406.7 million. This includes record sales of $165.8 […]