International steelmaker ArcelorMittal was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, dealing with closures and economic recessions across the globe. The company reported a loss of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2020 and expects the remainder of the year to be challenging. “There are still too many uncertainties to accurately predict what the rest […]
Ryerson CEO Eddie Lehner says the last three months have felt like three separate years due to the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic: BCV (Before the Coronavirus), DCV (During the Coronavirus) and ACV (After the Coronavirus). After a slow start to January due to weak demand from OEMs, the quarter gave way to a “pandemic […]
Canadian steelmaker Stelco sold out its mill and shipped to capacity despite the coronavirus pandemic in the first quarter of 2020. CEO Alan Kestenbaum attributes a higher value mix, excellent service to customers and a tremendously loyal customer base for its ability to fill order books when competitors are struggling. The company shipped 621,000 net […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth and Analyst Alexander Ordosch, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The global Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in sharply falling steel demand all over the world. For the steel industry, it is a challenging task to reduce production levels as ~75 percent of global output is produced through the BF/BOF, […]
U.S. Steel remains focused on its acquisition of Big River Steel even as the COVID-19 crisis forces the idling of U.S Steel operations and layoffs of employees. The success of U.S. Steel depends on having the best of integrated and EAF steelmaking, said the company during its first-quarter earnings call. “Make no mistake, our ‘best […]
Olympic Steel said it is weathering the COVID-19 crisis well, managing to earn a profit and supplying metals to essential industries making products for health care, transportation and food service markets. “We are sure to face some difficult times ahead, but we have weathered challenges and cyclical downturns throughout our history,” said CEO Rick Marabito […]
Canadian steel mill Stelco has entered into a new eight-year pellet sale and purchase agreement with U.S. Steel. The eight-year contract runs until Jan. 31, 2028, and will provide 100 percent of Stelco’s iron ore pellet requirements at Lake Erie Works including volume required to support the expansion in production projected after the upcoming blast […]
Steel Market Update sources and other trade press and are reporting that Cleveland-Cliffs is planning to immediately idle the hot strip mill at AK Steel’s Dearborn Works in Michigan for an indefinite period, possibly permanently, in response to the coronavirus crisis and other market pressures. Cleveland-Cliffs, parent of AK Steel, declined to comment, saying the […]
A strong beginning to the first quarter in Mexico supported shipments for Ternium S.A. as operations were locked down in South America due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company expects shipments to decrease about 30 percent in the second quarter and increase going forward in the second half of the year. “We don’t see a […]
Nucor has resumed production at its Louisiana direct-reduced-iron plant, but its DRI facility in Trinidad remains closed. As company executives reported during their conference call on Tuesday, the Louisiana facility was brought safely back online after a brief pause earlier this month. “Our DRI plants give us a great deal of flexibility and are a […]
Nucor Corp.’s sales and shipments saw healthy increases in the first quarter, prior to the coronavirus crisis. The first quarter was still a profitable one for the steelmaker, but the company is expecting a loss in the second quarter as the economy struggles with the government restrictions to stop the spead of COVID-19. Nucor reported […]
Steel Market Update sources report that U.S. Steel plans to idle the #1 blast furnace at Mon Valley Works by the end of this week. The furnace, located at the Edgar Thomson Plant, has a daily capacity of 3,460 tons and would leave only the No. 3 furnace at the facility operational at 3,100 tons […]
ArcelorMittal will expand its furlough of employees to include 250 workers at the Cleveland facility. The company has already laid off more than 300 union workers in Indiana and recently cut about 30 percent of its salaried workers. “The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to business throughout the world and increasingly across the […]
The global Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in sharply falling steel demand all over the world. For the steel industry, it is a challenging task to reduce production levels as ~70 percent of global output is produced through the BF/BOF, or integrated steelmaking, process route. Blast furnaces (BFs) suffer from low operational flexibility—they cannot typically be […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum said demand remains healthy, especially in construction, despite impacts from the COVID-19 crisis. The company posted net sales of $2.57 billion for the first quarter of 2020, a 13 percent decrease year-over-year due to lower metal prices. Net income was $61.7 million, down from $190.1 million in the same quarter last […]
Another iron mine is temporarily idling production. ArcelorMittal said on Tuesday that it will idle Hibbing Taconite on May 3 with plans to resume operations on July 6. “Due to the unprecedented and challenging times presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the joint venture partners of Hibbing Taconite will be idling the operation,” said ArcelorMittal in […]
Liberty Steel will idle its Georgetown steelworks for at least three months. The facility will be placed under care and maintenance in order to reopen quickly when the market improves. Wire rod orders will be filled by Liberty’s steelworks in Peoria, Ill. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen demand for our products soften […]
“The SDI team shines in moments of challenge,” said Steel Dynamics President and CEO Mark Millett. First-quarter results support that confidence as the company reported strong earnings for January-March despite the coronavirus pandemic. First-quarter net sales totaled $2.6 billion and net income $187 million, an improvement from Q4 2019 for both metrics. Selling price per ton […]
ArcelorMittal USA has idled the C blast furnace at Burns Harbor for a scheduled outage. “The company is currently in a quiet period in advance of Q1 2020 earnings and therefore we are unable to provide further details about the duration of the outage at this time,” said a company spokesperson. According to sources at […]
JSW Steel USA will idle facilities and lay off workers at its plants in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and Baytown, Texas, in an effort to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and chaos in the oil and gas market on steel demand. The company said it will temporarily idle the hot rolling mill and EAF […]
U.S. Steel has added to its facility closures, idling Keetac mining operations due to declining demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. “After further study of current demand, we must make additional adjustments to our raw materials production and indefinitely idle our Keetac facility to respond to the sudden and dramatic decline in business conditions resulting […]
Extreme times require extreme measures and rigorous planning, as shown in the Cleveland-Cliffs business update on April 15. Cleveland-Cliffs claims that its liquidity is assured during the COVID-19 crisis even under “extreme stress test assumptions.” Liquidity in an extreme scenario, not including proceeds from additional financing, would reach a trough of $370 million in September […]
Nucor Executive Vice President Ladd Hall will retire on June 20 after 39 years with the company. Hall began his career at Nucor Steel-Utah in 1981 in sales, progressing through several managerial positions until his promotion to Vice President of Nucor in 1994 and to Executive Vice President in 2007. “Ladd has been an exceptional […]
U.S. Steel will idle furnace #8 at Gary Works due to low market demand. The furnace was restarted in late 2019 to supplement production during a scheduled maintenance outage for the #4 furnace in 2020. The #8 furnace has been banked in order to quickly restore production should market conditions improve. “We are not in […]
Nucor has idled its direct-reduced-iron facility in Louisiana due to impacts from the coronavirus. “With the state of Louisiana having been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak and economic uncertainty nationwide, we have temporarily suspended operations at our Nucor Louisiana direct reduced iron plant,” said a spokesperson for Nucor. “Our steel mills that use […]
Cleveland-Cliffs will temporarily idle Northshore Mining in Minnesota and Tilden Mine in Michigan due to current market conditions. The iron ore supplier plans to work down current inventory from the operations to fulfill its commercial agreements with steel customers. Demand is down at U.S. steel mills, with several adjusting production due to closures in the […]
ArcelorMittal plans to idle the #3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor in East Chicago, according to a report by the Northwest Indiana Times. A memo from USW Local 1010 President Steve Wagner to members stated that the company “has mandated that all employees with less than two years be laid off.” “This is not in […]
ArcelorMittal USA will idle the #6 blast furnace at Cleveland Works due to reduced demand resulting from coronavirus closures in the automotive sector. ArcelorMittal USA President and CEO John Brett said in an April 3 letter to employees that extended closures in the automotive sector and reduced demand in other segments require the company to […]
BlueScope Steel says it will delay the North Star BlueScope expansion under way in Ohio for six months to minimize cash expenses as part of its strategy to maintain financial health during the COVID-19 crisis. The full scope of the project will resume when conditions improve. BlueScope Managing Director and CEO Mark Vassella said, “We […]
Cleveland-Cliffs will idle AK Coal due to reduced demand for coal in internal operations resulting from manufacturing shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said in a statement: “Cleveland-Cliffs continues to evaluate internal operational requirements for metallurgical coal required for steelmaking. Significant reductions in manufacturing in the United States resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, […]