The spread between hot rolled and cold rolled/coated steels continues to be at dangerous (my opinion) levels. The U.S. steel industry has been systematically “building a dam” (Lewis Leibowitz words) around this country in order to prevent what they call unfairly subsidized and unfairly traded plate, hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. The […]
A new bidder may step forward for Essar Steel Algoma, according to UK publication Financial Times. According to the Financial Times, Liberty House, a metal trade and integrated steel producer, hopes to secure deals for both Essar Steel Algoma and US Steel Canada. Liberty is also watching the developments in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy at […]
United States Steel (USS) has filed a motion to reverse the judge’s decision to suspend the Section 337 investigation pending consultation with the Commerce Department. US Steel was not the only entity which felt the investigation should continue, the Office of Unfair Import Investigations which is part of the International Trade Commission (ITC) also filed […]
Ontario Steel Investment says it signed a letter of intent with USW Local 2251 for the acquisition of Essar Steel Algoma. Ontario Steel says it will assume all employer liabilities for Essar Steel Algoma’s pension plan in return for a purchase price of US $900 million for the acquisition of the company. Ontario Steel is […]
Late last week the International Trade Commission (ITC) temporarily suspended the Section 337 case brought by United States Steel (USS) against China, pending consultations with the Department of Commerce. ITC Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord stated that two of the three causes of action brought by USS (evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders and […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission has put the Section 337 case brought by US Steel against Chinese steel companies on hold until Oct. 2, 2017. Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord said that two of the three complaints in the case, price fixing and transshipment, belong under the purview of antidumping and countervailing duty laws that […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of May 2016 was 8,957,525 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US steel exports. May apparent […]
It appears that Essar Global has been eliminated from the bidders vying for the assets of US Steel Canada. The Hamilton Spectator is reporting that the USSC board of directors has rejected a bid from Essar Global because of concerns that the company lacks the financial resources to complete a purchase. Essar was rejected as […]
Leaders in the steel industry reacted favorably to Friday’s affirmative decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC)’s regarding injury to the industry resulting from the import of corrosion-resistant steel from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan. Mario Longhi, President and CEO, US Steel Corp.: “United States Steel Corporation is pleased with the International Trade Commission’s […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced today (June 22, 2016) that it finds that unfairly priced and subsidized imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from China and Japan have hurt U.S. steel producers. All six commissioners voted in the affirmative. As a result, the antidumping and countervailing duties determined by the DOC in their […]
Essar Steel Algoma filed a formal motion for approval of the sale of the company to KPS Capital. The asset purchase agreement will sell the assets of Algoma for a combination of cash sufficient to pay the outstanding liabilities under the DIP facility, a credit bid of the term loan debt, and assumption of certain […]
An explosion and fire at US Steel Edgar Thomson resulted in the evacuation of the steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania last night. Firefighting crews from Forest Hills and Braddock responded. No injuries were reported. US Steel released the following statement: “At approximately 7:30 p.m. last evening, an incident occurred in the steelmaking area of the […]
USW Local 1005 says it is prepared to fight for what belongs to the active workers and 20,000 pensioners at US Steel Canada. The Canadian USW Local representing Hamilton Works is angry about media reports “that there are bidders interested in purchasing Stelco and Algoma and they will not assume ‘legacy obligations’ referring to pension […]
Essar Steel Algoma announced today (June 17) that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with KPS Capital Partners, LP. The sale is subject to approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. KPS, a leading private equity firm in the manufacturing sector, has a history of transforming challenged businesses into healthy, independent companies. […]
Speculation continues to grow that KPS Capital, the suitor for Essar Steel Algoma, will also buy US Steel Canada and merge the two companies. Sources for the Globe and Mail and Hamilton Spectator say that KPS is one of the two remaining bidders for the former Stelco operations in Hamilton and Nanticoke. According to anonymous […]
Two bidders continue to vie for purchase of the Hamilton and Nanticoke steel plants in Canada. According to the Hamilton Spectator, sources close to the sale confirm that Essar Group of India and KPS Capital Partners LP of New York are the final contenders for US Steel Canada. KPS is also interested in gaining Essar […]
Over the past week Steel Market Update has been of the opinion that flat rolled steel prices may be reaching levels where a “pause” may be appropriate. Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator has been pointing toward Higher flat rolled steel prices since December 11, 2015 (6 months). Many of the reasons which caused Steel Market […]
An attempt by US Steel to prevent US Steel Canada from continuing to use processes the parent company developed for high strength steels, has been thwarted by the Ontario Superior Court. US Steel claims it owns the intellectual property used by USSC, including the processes used to produce various grades of advanced high strength steel. […]
Cliffs Natural Resources’ supply agreement with ArcelorMittal “put the final nail in the coffin of Essar Steel Minnesota.” That is the opinion of Star Tribune columnist, Lee Schafer. Schafer has a point, with Cliffs gobbling up Northern steel mill contracts, Essar will have no customers even if it is able to pull itself out of […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of April 2016 was 8,634,917 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US steel exports. April apparent […]
A new wrinkle has developed in the dispute between US Steel Canada and its former parent US Steel. US Steel is claiming ownership of USSC’s intellectual property and says the Canadian company cannot include it in the sale of its facilities. USSC’s chief restructuring officer, Bill Aziz, said that without a clear title to the […]
Cliffs Natural Resources announced today that it will restart its United Taconite mining facility in August. The restart was originally scheduled for October but will occur two months early due to additional pellet tonnage ordered by US Steel Canada. Cliffs is revising its 2016 sales volume guidance to 18 million tonnes from 17.5 million tonnes. […]
United Steelworkers are continuing to fight for the release of the secret deal between the Canadian government and US Steel. NDP MP Scott Duvall, on Thursday, called on the House of Commons on Thursday to release the terms of the agreement. United Steelworkers’ Ontario/Atlantic Director Marty Warren said Duvall’s demand must be acted on if […]
Late this afternoon one of our readers forwarded to us an article from one of the other steel periodicals referencing foreign steel prices as “falling fast.” Steel Market Update’s perspective (and those from our steel trading sources) is different than what another periodical may be reporting. We believe that one must look at the bigger […]
China steelmakers are denouncing charges of wrong doing levied by US Steel in its Section 337 filing. The ITC said last week that it will pursue the investigation that charges Chinese steel producers stole trade secrets, engaged in price fixing and participated in transshipment and duties evasion. One of the respondents in the investigation, Wuhan […]
Figure 1 shows published data for the growth of GDP, industrial production and consumer prices through the first quarter of 2016. The GDP and industrial production portions of this graph are three month moving averages. The growth of GDP was 6.7 percent in the first quarter, down from 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, and […]
To all of our U.S. readers, welcome back from the Memorial Day Holiday. Each holiday is a big deal to me as this past weekend was one of those rare occasions where I wasn’t writing or studying the market every day and was able to actually take a couple of days off and give my […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Dave Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. […]
The International Trade Commission is expected to make a decision May 26 on whether the Section 337 filing by US Steel will move forward. The complaint contends China stole trade secrets, fixed prices and participated in transshipping and mislabeling of steel products to evade duties. If the trade action is successful, the US International Trade […]
Steel Market Update received a note from trade attorney Lewis E. Leibowitz regarding an “ex parte” memorandum from former Michigan Governor and current President of the Business Rountable, John Engler, about the AD investigation of imports of cold rolled steel from Japan. Mr. Engler was intervening on behalf of Steelcase and their subsidiary PolyVision which […]