
Final thoughts
Here’s something I didn’t expect to see this week: SMU’s Current Buyers’ Sentiment Index dropped to its lowest point since August 2020.
Here’s something I didn’t expect to see this week: SMU’s Current Buyers’ Sentiment Index dropped to its lowest point since August 2020.
U.S. Steel’s board of directors has published a letter accusing Cleveland-Cliffs of a campaign of “misinformation” intended to “derail the transaction” of Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) to buy the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker. However, Cliffs has clapped back, with a release rebutting USS’ allegations.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ Lourenco Goncalves thinks trade measures announced by the US government on Tuesday against China were just the opening salvo in a series of trade actions. Case in point: The Biden administration targeted China’s “unfair” trade policies with additional tariffs on an array of Chinese-made goods - including steel, aluminum, and EVs.
Wolfe Research Managing Director Timna Tanners cautioned clients about the darkening clouds of a brewing steel sheet storm in the company's Basic Materials Weekly Webcast on Monday. “This one we’ve been talking about for a while, and we feel like the theme is coalescing here,” she said.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) appropriated more than $4 billion to the General Services Administration (GSA) and Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) for “Buy Clean” programs. The statute makes clear that GSA and FHWA purchases under these programs are limited to those with “substantially lower” emissions. There is no ambiguity in that requirement. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined “substantially lower” to mean products with the lowest 20% of embodied emissions when compared to similar materials.
A vote on Friday by the International Trade Commission (ITC) ensures that antidumping duties on certain steel sheet imports from Japan will continue for the mid-term.
Three vocal Republican senators are demanding that President Joe Biden block the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
The EU has approved Tokyo-based Nippon Steel Corp.’s (NSC’s) proposed buy of U.S. Steel, a report in Reuters on Monday said.
The sale of U.S. Steel Corp. to Nippon Steel Corp. has been delayed by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust investigation. The Justice Department, which is conducting an antitrust review of the merger, has requested additional information from both USS and NSC. The companies originally anticipated closing the sale in the second or third quarter […]
Everybody has a plan… until they’ve dealt with volatility in the HRC market. While Mike Tyson’s original quote was about getting punched in the mouth, it’s unlikely the ex-champ has gone many pricing rounds with hot-rolled coil.
U.S. Steel posted slightly lower Q1’24 earnings as stronger earnings from its sheet mills were partially offset by a weaker performance from it tubular division. All told, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker reported Q1’24 earnings of $171 million. That's down 14.1% from $199 million in Q1’23 on sales that fell 6.9% to $4.16 billion in the same comparison.
ArcelorMittal posted a narrower Q1’24 profit compared to Q1’23 but remained optimistic about steel's long-term demand prospects.
Hybar has big plans for entering the American steel market. Although it is the newest player in the US rebar market, the startup is led by an experienced, nimble, and ambitious team, and backed by investors with deep pockets. Industry titan and Hybar CEO David Stickler joined SMU Managing Editor Michael Cowden on Wednesday’s Community Chat to update the SMU community on the company’s first mill, and its grand plans for the future.
SunCoke's earnings soared in the first quarter, with the company citing strong performances in its cokemaking and logistics segments.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. would still be interested in acquiring some or all of U.S. Steel’s assets, if the proposed deal by Nippon Steel stumbles, according to an article in Bloomberg.
Hybar CEO David Stickler will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 1, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. continued to lose money in the first quarter, with the steelmaker blaming the loss in part on the idling of its tinplate facility in Weirton, W.Va.
ArcelorMittal plans to build a new electrical steel manufacturing facility near its AM/NS Calvert joint-venture mill in Alabama.
Last week gave us a glimpse into the effect of the 2024 election campaign on trade policy. In a major announcement, the Biden administration pressed the US Trade Representative (USTR) to triple certain Section 301 tariffs on steel and aluminum. It’s a lot to unpack. You can find the full text of the announcement here. […]
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced measures to support the domestic steel industry.
Bula tapped as CEO of Finland's Blastr
U.S. Steel’s No. 8 blast furnace (BF8) at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana is undergoing a 45-day maintenance outage that started on April 4.
U.S. Steel Corp.’s impending sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) has cleared one hurdle: USS stockholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the nearly $15 billion merger.
For something that wasn’t on the agenda in Washington this week, the proposed Nippon Steel deal for U.S. Steel is getting a lot of attention.
The United Steelworkers (USW) union is calling out Nippon Steel for already prioritizing its Japanese operations at the expense of American workers despite forging ahead with its proposed plan to purchase U.S. Steel.
President Biden said on Wednesday he would stand by his commitment to US workers regarding the proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be in Washington this week where one topic under discussion with President Biden will be U.S. Steel's proposed sale to Nippon Steel.
Cleveland-Cliffs and the Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) are two of the newest members to join the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
They say all’s fair in love and war. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in steel. Being deemed “unfair” could get you slapped with shiny new Section 232 tariffs these days. Then again, “unfair” implies a judge. And people on opposing sides seldom agree with the judgment. Such seems to be the current case between the US and Mexico.
In a first-of-its-kind project, U.S. Steel will soon begin capturing carbon emissions from its blast furnaces at its Gary Works in Indiana.