United Steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. voted overwhelmingly on Friday to authorize union officials to call a strike against the company. The strike authorization was approved by 95% of the 1,300 union members and, if carried out, will be the first strike at ATI since the mid-1990s. In the latest bargaining bulletin, union officials urged […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) is converting slabs for two domestic mills and one Brazilian steelmaker, according to market participants. ATI is re-rolling slabs for Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) as well as for U.S. steelmakers JSW Steel USA and NLMK USA, sources told Steel Market Update. The issue is relevant because the United Steelworkers […]
U.S. Steel is expanding its advanced high-strength steel offering with the acquisition of the flat rolled sheet patents and trademarks of The NanoSteel Company, Inc. NanoSteel technology is used to produce the most formable high-strength steel currently available. The patented proprietary alloys, designed and developed by The NanoSteel Company, derive exceptional mechanical properties from their […]
U.S. Steel plans to take a 25-day outage in May on the No. 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania, a company spokeswoman confirmed. The outage is part of the steelmaker’s normal maintenance program, she said. The maintenance is to apply shotcrete–a sprayed concrete–and other standard upkeep, sources said. Smaller outages are planned […]
Altos Hornos de México (AMSA) has resumed normal operations at its No. 5 blast furnace following a temporary outage last month, a company spokesman said. The No. 5 furnace had to stop for two days because of severe weather and a natural gas shortage. The Mexican flat-rolled steelmaker last month said that it had lost […]
Algoma Steel Inc. aims to raise sheet and plate prices by $40 per ton ($2/cwt) effectively immediately for new spot orders. The price hike applies equally to hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, as-rolled plate and heat-treated plate, the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker said in letters to customers on Friday, March 5. Published extras will also be applied to […]
JSW Steel USA will resume melting and slab casting at its electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, the week of March 7, the company’s top executive said. The steelmaker has also decided to begin the process of restarting its pipe mill in Baytown, Texas, JSW Steel USA CEO Mark Bush told Steel Market […]
Cleveland-Cliffs will be retiring the name AK Steel, bringing all acquisitions and properties under the Cleveland-Cliffs name, which will be reported as a single segment, Cleveland-Cliffs Steelmaking. “Cleveland-Cliffs has undergone significant transformation with the acquisitions of AK Steel and ArcelorMittal USA assets,” said Cleveland-Cliffs spokesperson Patricia Persico. “While we appreciate and respect the legacy AK […]
United Steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. are preparing for a potential strike as contract negotiations break down at the bargaining table. USW members have been working under a one-year contract extension after January 2020 negotiations were halted due to the impact and uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended contract expired last week on […]
NLMK USA expects United Steelworkers (USW) union members at its steel mill in Farrell, Pa., to return to work on Monday, March 8, a company official said. The steelmaker plans to ramp up its hot mill in western Pennsylvania in March. April will see downstream facilities resume normal operating rates, NLMK USA Executive Vice President […]
United Steelworkers (USW) union members have voted to ratify a new labor contract with NLMK USA, ending a strike that began more than six months ago. There were 276 votes cast in favor of the new four-year contract and 103 against it, USW District 10 Staff Representative Todd Clary told Steel Market Update on Monday, March […]
Tenaris, a leading manufacturer of pipe and tube for the energy sector, saw sales rise 12% in the fourth quarter as drilling activity improved in the Americas and sales expanded in the Middle East. Sales of OCTG products rose 11% from the prior quarter in the U.S. and Canada, totaling $391 million for the region. Fourth-quarter […]
JSW Steel USA resumed operations at its Baytown, Texas, plate and pipe mill on Feb. 25–earlier than expected, the company’s top executive said. And the steelmaker remains on track to begin melting at its electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, in March, JSW Steel USA CEO Mark Bush told Steel Market Update. “We […]
“Life at Cleveland-Cliffs has been intense,” said CEO Lourenco Goncalves, referring to a pandemic-challenged year in 2020 and major changes to what just one year ago was an iron ore company. “Without question, 2020 was the most transformational year in our company’s 173-year history,” said Goncalves. “We completed two seminal acquisitions, AK Steel and ArcelorMittal […]
Demand is strong and approaching pre-COVID levels in the first quarter, said Olympic Steel President and COO Andrew Greiff during the service center’s fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call. All three company divisions contributed to earnings for Q4 with specialty metals turning in its third strongest quarter in the company’s history as well as the strongest quarter […]
Executives at Ryerson, the nation’s second largest service center company, remain optimistic about their prospects for 2021, even after reporting a net loss of $65.8 million on revenues of $3.47 billion in 2020. The company saw a 23% drop in sales last year due to the pandemic. Revenues improved by 2.6% in the fourth quarter […]
The extreme cold snap that hit the southern U.S. disrupted production at Ternium Mexico, causing the loss of approximately 80,000 tons of production and an estimated $40 million. The facilities are now back to normal operations, but because the mill is operating at full capacity, lost production cannot be made up, said CEO Maximo Vedoya […]
Nucor is assessing damage and a timetable for repairs after a fire on a direct-reduced iron (DRI) conveyor belt system at its flat-rolled steel mill in Ghent, Ky., the company said. “The fire was quickly extinguished by local area fire departments, and there were no injuries as a result of the fire,” a Nucor spokeswoman […]
Algoma Steel has struck an arc at its second ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF), a move expected to increase capacity by approximately 100,000 tons per year, the company said. The second LMF – officially No.2 LMF – has annual capacity of 2.1 million tons and complements the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker’s No.1 LMF. The addition of a second LMF […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has closed its May order booked for flat-rolled steel just a week after opening it. “We want to thank you for your continued support during these difficult times. … We will contact you when we open the Flat Rolled order book for June,” CSI said in a Feb. 23 letter to […]
Nucor is expanding its value-added portfolio with the addition of a new TrueCore manufacturing facility. The company plans to build a 120,000-square-foot facility in Brigham City, Utah, that will manufacture insulated wall and roof panels. TrueCore was acquired by Nucor in 2019 and is part of Nucor’s Buildings Group. The Brigham facility will be the […]
United Steelworkers union members will vote March 1 on whether to ratify a tentative contract agreement covering NLMK USA’s operations in western Pennsylvania, a union official said. USW District 10 Staff Representative Todd Clary confirmed the date next Monday. He declined additional comment until after the vote. NLMK USA President and CEO Robert D. Miller also confirmed […]
North Star BlueScope continues to be a strong segment for Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel. North Star BlueScope shipped 1,024,700 metric tons of steel in the first half of fiscal year 2021 for revenue of U.S. $569 million, up slightly from $557 million in the second half of FY 2020. The U.S. division ran at full […]
Nucor’s tubular products group has increased prices for hollow structural sections (HSS), pipe, mechanical and piling products by $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt). The move is effective immediately and is necessary because of “rising raw material costs, strong demand, and volatile transportation costs,” Nucor said in a Feb. 19 letter to customers. Orders booked prior to […]
AM/NS Calvert has broken ground for construction of a $775 million electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its slab conversion mill in Alabama. The new EAF, to have a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year, is expected to come online in the first half of 2023, AM/NS Calvert CEO Jorge Oliveria said in a statement. The […]
At least two major Mexican flat-rolled steel producers–Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) and Ternium México–have cut production in response to power outages and natural gas shortages, according to mill communications. That development–along with transportation and production snarls at multiple flat-rolled mills in the southern United States–means the North American steel market might be short tens […]
“Extraordinary challenges on a global scale” is how Reliance Steel & Aluminum CEO Jim Hoffman characterized 2020 during the service center’s conference call this week. However, Hoffman was optimistic about the new year, “As I continue to say, America is going to need Reliance in order to rebuild.” In the fourth quarter, Reliance sales fell […]
Stelco management presented an optimistic outlook for the Canadian mill in 2021. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 79 percent from the third quarter to CAD $424 million on higher steel pricing and increased volume. Shipments rose 46 percent sequentially to 489,000 net tons. Shipments are expected to jump another 35 percent in the first quarter of 2021. Stelco […]
NLMK USA has reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers at its operations in western Pennsylvania, according to both company and union leaders. If ratified, the pact would bring an end to a strike that began nearly six months ago. “We reached a tentative agreement today. … We are optimistic that today’s actions will […]
Nucor has increased spot flat-rolled steel prices for some buyers by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), according to market participants. The electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker is quoting certain customers $1,240 per ton for April hot-rolled coil, up from $1,200 previously, sources said. What’s less clear is how many spot tons are available for purchase. Spot tonnage, which […]