An explosion at the Gerdau long products steel mill in Wilton, Iowa, injured three employees and a contractor on Wednesday night. The incident occurred in the facility’s melt shop and resulted in temporary suspension of operations. Gerdau Ameristeel is working with authorities to investigate and determine the cause of the explosion. “Gerdau’s priority is attending […]
Ferrous scrap prices were expected to rise by $20 to $30 per gross ton once the September negotiations began. By Thursday afternoon (today), we were learning that steel mills are suddenly able to buy at sideways numbers. We understand North Star BlueScope was able to buy September at the same prices as August. Other sources […]
André Gerdau Johannpeter has resigned as the chief executive of Gerdau SA, one of the largest steelmakers in the Americas, as members of the founding family exit from the company’s executive management. Gostavo Werneck, head of Gerdau’s Brazil operations, will replace him in January. Also stepping down from their management roles are Executive Vice-Presidents Claudio […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) asked ferrous scrap guru Mike Marley of World Steel Dynamics how he is seeing ferrous scrap price negotiations as we enter the month of August. He reported what we have heard from our scrap sources: the market should expect higher scrap pricing in the coming month. Here’s what Marley told us […]
As if it is not enough to call every ton of imported steel “dumped,” “subsidized” or “unfairly priced,” steelmakers are now using a scare tactic by telling our politicians we need a strong domestic steel industry in the interest of national security. As a Bloomberg report pointed out, less than 3 percent of the steel consumed in the […]
Three Canadian Chambers of Commerce presented their concerns about unfairly traded steel to the Federal Government’s Standing Committee on International Trade on March 21. The Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce and its counterparts from Windsor-Essex and Hamilton were joined by key Canadian steel producers including Essar Steel Algoma, Stelco Inc., Gerdau Long Steel North […]
An antitrust lawsuit filed by indirect steel purchasers against ArcelorMittal USA, US Steel and other steel mills was dismissed in the US District Court of Northern Illinois last week. In 2008, Supreme Auto Transport LLC, based in Michigan, filed a complaint alleging that ArcelorMittal and others were among a group of steel producers who schemed […]
The final three holdouts in the Standard Iron Works v. ArcelorMittal et al. antitrust litigation have come to a settlement. Steel Dynamics, Nucor and SSAB have agreed to settle price-fixing claims for a combined total of $30 million. Steel Dynamics issued an announcement on Tuesday that it will pay $4.6 million in the class action […]
John Ferriola, Chairman, CEO and President of Nucor Corp., has been elected Chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The elections for officers and the 2016 Executive Committee were held at worldsteel’s 50th Annual Conference in Dubai, UAE. Officers for worldsteel will serve for a period of one year. The new officers for 2016/2017 are: […]
SMU Sources are advising us that obsolete grades of ferrous scrap are trading sideways (prices remaining the same as last month) while prime grades move lower by $10 to $15 per gross ton in the Chicago, Ohio Valley, Detroit and Indiana markets. Prior to negotiations beginning, the expectation was for obsolete grades to remain intact […]
Washington, D.C. – The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) Board of Directors today announced that Tracy Porter, Senior Vice President of Commercial Metals Company (CMC) and President of CMC Americas, was elected as Chairman of SMA’s Board of Directors for 2016-2017. In July 2010, Mr. Porter was appointed Senior Vice President of CMC and President of […]
Claimants in a steel anti-trust suit that has been ongoing since 2008 will finally receive some satisfaction. Last week, a U.S. District Court judge in Illinois approved the distribution of settlement funds for 1,857 claims totaling almost $103.7 million. The settlement stems from a 2008 price fixing case involving eight steel manufacturers. Standard Iron Works […]
Perhaps the scrap market can best be described by those actively sourcing/selling ferrous scrap. Here is how one of the larger groups saw the market this week, “The scrap trade was quite tumultuous this week. Scrap demand, both export and domestic was robust, forcing the scrap processors to take a hard look at what sales […]
US Steel Corp. President and CEO Mario Longhi is the recipient of the 2015 AIST Steelmaker of the Year Award. The annual award is presented by the Association for Iron and Steel Technology to notable leaders for their impact on the steel industry. The prestigious honor will be conferred at the AISTech 2015—Iron and Steel […]
The following article is normally produced just for our Premium level members. We are sharing the information today with all of our readers. The article is written by Peter Wright, consultant to Steel Market Update, Gerdau and the State of Wyoming. Peter, who is a metallurgist as well as market specialist, is also one of […]
Just last week there was an article about Dennis (DJ) Johnson and in his new position as Vice President, Transformation, at Worthington Industries. Johnson joins others now at Worthington including Jim Mortensen, now Director Strategic Product Development and Pat Loney, Product Manager, Hot Rolled and Coated Products. You might think that most of the leadership […]
The following article is normally produced just for our Premium level members. We are sharing the information today with all of our readers. The article is written by Peter Wright, consultant to Steel Market Update, Gerdau and the State of Wyoming. Peter, who is a metallurgist as well as market specialist, is also one of […]
I was conversing with a consulting friend who reported to me that steel prices are taking a beating in Europe. He referenced hot rolled prices being offered out of Russia into Europe for 365 to 375 euros. He also reported that the sales of the Italian steel mill, ILVA would not succeed and the mill […]
Sims Metal Management has announced the appointment of Tobin Popisil as President of the North America Metals-Central Region which includes the Midwest, South and Southwest regions of the U.S. Prior to joining the Sims, Pospisil served as President of the Gallatin Steel Company, a flat products mini-mill joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Gerdau. He joined […]
As expected, the Russian hot rolled tonnage won’t be missed for very long as Brazil, Turkey and other countries look to fill the void. The upside for buyers is the replacement mills produce a superior product to what was coming in from Russia. At the moment we are being advised by current Russian buyers that […]
With the announcement of the sale of Russian owned Severstal North America assets to AK Steel (Dearborn, Mountain State Carbon & Joint Ventures) and Steel Dynamics (Columbus) for $2.325 billion, the market is now asking what, or who, is next. There are two mills that are being mentioned. One, Gallatin Steel, a hot rolled mini-mill […]
In the last issue of Steel Market Update I warned that there are lots of rumors swamping the steel market as negotiations for Severstal NA heat up (or are perhaps already over) and Gallatin entertains bids on their mill (half owned by Gerdau and half ArcelorMittal). The other mill issue is the Chapter 15 (Canadian […]
Based on SMU sources we understand there are two steel mills, comprising three separate steel plants, that are for sale and could potentially change hands before the end of this calendar year. The two mills are Severstal NA and Gallatin. Severstal NA SMU understands the bids for Severstal NA were due this past Friday. Our […]
US Steel agreed in a Northern Illinois federal court on Tuesday to pay $58 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products. The suit alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by restricting production of steel products between […]
Our sources close to the process are advising Steel Market Update that bids on the Severstal North America steel mill assets are due on July 2, 2014. If, and if is a big question with this potential transaction, the bids are acceptable to the Russian parent company, the deal to sell the mills could be […]
ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay a $90 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit brought in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. The class action lawsuit, filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products, alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by […]
Mike Rippey, president and CEO of ArcelorMittal USA, has been elected Chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Rippey will serve as chairman until May 2015, leading advocacy efforts on behalf of AISI and the industry to advance pro-manufacturing polices that will enhance the competitiveness of the North American steel industry. “Mike’s been a strong […]
Our ferrous scrap sources are advising Steel Market Update to expect a minimum of $20 per gross ton increase in scrap prices as we head into the month of November mill buys. We are finding there is some weakness being exhibited on the east coast with the Claymont plate mill being shut down by Evraz, […]
The Board of Directors of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) has elected the following new officers for 2013/2014: Chairman: POSCO Chairman and CEO Joon-Yang Chung Vice Chairmen: Severstal JSC CEO Alexey Mordashov, voestalpine AG CEO and Chairman Wolfgang Eder Treasurer: JFE Steel Corporation CEO and President Eiji Hayashida The new chairman takes office from Wednesday […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) Board of Directors announced the election of Philip K. Bell as SMA President. Bell is currently Director of External Communications and Public Affairs for Gerdau Long Steel North America. He will assume his new role at SMA on November 1, 2013. Current SMA President Thomas Danjczek will retire after 15 […]