Big River Steel is expected to roll the first coil from its new electric arc furnace sometime next week, according to U.S. Steel’s Q3 comments and other sources. The project ran ahead of the scheduled January start-up by more than two months. Although the first coil will be produced next week, full capacity won’t be […]
On Wednesday, Steel Market Update reached out to Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President & CEO Lourenco Goncalves to get his thoughts on the market as the U.S. is about to change leadership and Cliffs is about to complete their acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA operations (except for Calvert and Dofasco in Canada). SMU: Have you congratulated President-elect Biden? […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco has completed the blast furnace reline and modernization at Lake Erie Works and is “ready to roll.” Chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum said the project was on time and under budget and will be North America’s first truly “smart” blast furnace. The modernization boosts the mill’s production capacity by 300,000 net tons […]
JSW Steel USA has hired Christine Ovsenar as its new Chief Commercial Officer, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Ovsenar will be responsible for developing JSW Steel USA’s commercial team and strategy. She joins the company following 19 years at SSAB where she most recently served as Director of Sales, Commercial Products. Her 30 years of experience in […]
The strike by United Steelworkers at NLMK Pennsylvania is approaching its third month with very little progress made in negotiations over wages and healthcare. In particular, the USW and NLMK are at an impasse over the structure for a health plan. NLMK would like to transition employees from a PPO to a high deductible plan. […]
Demand is back to 90 percent of pre-COVID levels after gaining strength in mid-September and continuing through October, said Olympic Steel CEO Richard Marabito in his third-quarter report to analysts and investors. Other than some normal seasonality, the service center expects demand to remain steady in the fourth quarter. “Our third-quarter performance improved sequentially, as […]
Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal narrowed its net loss to $300 million in the third quarter, an improvement on the loss of $600 million in Q2, as sales increased 20.9 percent to $13.3 billion due to higher steel shipments and a better sales mix. Worldwide shipments for the quarter totaled 17.5 million metric tons, a 17.5 percent […]
Mexican steelmaker Ternium’s operating rates are approaching full capacity after strong improvement in shipments and demand in the third quarter. Total steel shipments rose 16 percent from the second quarter to 2.8 million tons. Higher finished steel shipments partially offset lower slab shipments to third parties. Pricing recovered significantly from the trough in the second […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. reported incremental improvement in third-quarter 2020. Ryerson’s Q3 revenue increased 7.7 percent to $832 million, but the service center company posted a net loss of $39.9 million, which included a $52 million charge related to pension liabilities and 17.1 million in expenses related to the refinance of 2022 notes. Adjusted net income was […]
U.S. Steel narrowed its loss to $234 million in the third quarter from a net loss of $589 million in the second quarter. Net sales increased to $2.34 billion from $2.09 billion. “Our third-quarter results exceeded our guidance and demonstrated the power of the actions we have taken since the onset of COVID-19 with dramatically […]
Nucor has agreed to acquire Precoat Metals’ paint line facility in Armorel, Ark., accelerating Nucor’s entry into the painted products market, said Troy Brooks, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Arkansas. Precoat’s paint line is located near the Nucor Steel Arkansas sheet mill campus and has a capacity of approximately 250,000 tons per […]
It’s an understatement to say it’s been a challenging year for Allegheny Technologies, Inc., said President and CEO Robert Wetherbee during ATI’s third-quarter earnings call. Commercial aerospace is ATI’s largest end market and was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales in the jet engine segment plunged 68 percent year over year and 47 percent in […]
NLMK says a full day of negotiations last Thursday failed to make any real progress on resolving the two-month-old strike at NLMK Pennsylvania. “It continues to appear that the USW leadership isn’t interested in getting the workers back to work as quickly as possible,” said a spokesperson for the company. NLMK is offering what it […]
U.S. Steel has successfully started its new electric arc furnace steelmaking facility at Fairfield, Ala. The EAF commenced its first arc, charged and melted scrap and on Oct. 20 tapped its first heat of liquid steel. EAF #1 at Fairfield Tubular will have an annual steelmaking capacity of 1.6 million tons and is part of […]
A cybersecurity attack at Canadian steel producer Stelco is a reminder to all in the steel industry to secure and protect their data and operations. Stelco announced Monday that it was the victim of a criminal attack on its information systems. Immediate countermeasures were implemented that limited the scope of the attack, but certain operations, […]
JSW Steel’s assets in Texas and Ohio both reported losses for the second quarter of FY 2021. At Baytown, the pipe mill remained idled and the plate mill operated at only 22 percent of capacity, producing 54,137 metric tons. EBITDA for the subsidiary was positive at $17.24 million, but only due to a $30.4 million […]
The return of automotive manufacturing after closures due to the pandemic boosted demand for Cleveland-Cliffs’ products and resulted in revenue of $1.6 billion and net income of $2 million for the third quarter of 2020. “We were significantly affected in Q2 by the unprecedented shutdowns that took place throughout the entire auto sector for an […]
North Star BlueScope continues to shine for Australian parent company BlueScope Steel. North Star continues to ship at full capacity in the first half of FY 2021 driven by the rebound in the U.S. auto industry. Steel spreads have improved in the half due to higher HRC pricing, although earnings are expected to be somewhat […]
Lower prices and planned maintenance contributed to reduced earnings for SSAB Americas in the third quarter of 2020. Revenue fell 16 percent from the prior quarter and 39 percent year-over-year to SEK 2,715 million ($309.5 million U.S.). The segment posted an operating loss of SEK 436 million ($49.7 million), down SEK 425 million from Q2 […]
Nucor reported better than expected results for the third quarter of 2020. The company’s bar and structural mills led earnings, benefiting from a good nonresidential construction market. Joist and deck orders, quotes and backlogs are up year-over year with strong demand from nonresidential, including data and distribution center construction, company executives told investors and analysts […]
Steel Dynamics’ CEO Mark Millett was upbeat on the prospects for steel demand in the fourth quarter and beyond. “You can clearly see what is happening in the marketplace through one’s order book—ours is in pretty good shape,” said Millett. Flat rolled demand and momentum remain strong, inventories are at historical lows, imports continue to […]
Resilient construction demand enabled Commercial Metals Company to weather the COVID-19 crisis without disruption to productivity. CMC’s fourth-quarter FY 2020 earnings totaled $67.8 million, a 6.5 percent increase from the third quarter. Consolidated net sales totaled $1.4 billion, with sequential increases in both the North America and Europe segments. Net sales for the year reached […]
Ford has selected ArcelorMittal and its Fortiform 980 GI steel as its sole source of third-generation advanced high-strength steel for use in the 2021 Ford Bronco. The steel is produced at AM/NS Calvert and is designed for automotive application due to its strength and formability. “Ford called us to see if we could develop this […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco has completed the upgrade and reline of the blast furnace at Lake Erie Works and has commenced production. The upgrade will improve quality and increase metal production by up to 300,000 net tons per year and reduce costs to produce steel coils by CAD $30 ($22.84 U.S.) per ton. “We are […]
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. is considering selling its shares of I/N Tek and I/N Kote, rolling and galvanizing plants held in a 50-50 joint venture with ArcelorMittal, to Cleveland-Cliffs. Cliffs acquired ArcelorMittal’s shares of the two plants in New Carlisle, Ind., in a deal for the company’s U.S. assets last month. Nippon Steel […]
Sales at NLMK USA plunged 33 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2020 due to lower production resulting from the strike at NLMK Pennsylvania. Compared to the previous quarter, USA sales jumped 11 percent to 370,000 metric tons following the completion of repairs at NLMK Indiana and recovery in steel demand. Weak steel consumption […]
Majestic Steel will be the presenting sponsor for the Sixth Annual Wine, Women & Shoes Gala to benefit Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland. Majestic Steel is a long-time supporter of RMHC, which provides critical support and medical services for families impacted by catastrophic illnesses or injuries. The Wine, Women & Shoes gala will be virtual […]
Workers at NLMK Pennsylvania in Farrell, Pa., are in their seventh week of a strike over healthcare and what they claim are unfair labor practices with little progress evident in negotiations. NLMK released a video for employees on Oct. 1 to explain the structure of the proposed new health plan and the savings for workers […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the United States’ awareness of its economic and security risks, said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt, in an op-ed published by Fox Business. “Key among these risks: the hidden cost of our country’s high dependence on the global supply chain.” As the coronavirus took hold globally, critical supplies […]
Swedish initiative HYBRIT has received $2.5 million from the Swedish Energy Agency for a comprehensive study of steelmaking using hydrogen for the direct-reduction of iron ore. HYBRIT is a collaboration of steelmaker SSAB, iron ore producer LKAB, and electricity producer Vattenfall. HYBRIT seeks to replace coking coal used in ore-based steel making with hydrogen to create steel with […]