JSW USA is delaying construction of an electric arc furnace at its Baytown facility due to current market conditions. “While JSW USA is fully under way in modernizing the Plate Mill at Baytown, Texas, given the current market conditions and the prevailing policy environment, the company has for now decided to put on hold the […]
U.S. Steel announced that it will idle its East Chicago Tin facility due to low capacity utilization and consolidate production from three to two facilities. The company hopes to transfer about half of the 297 employees at East Chicago to Gary Works and the Midwest plant. The statement below was sent to employees on Friday. […]
ArcelorMittal announced that it will lay off 100 workers at its Weirton, W. Va., tin plate plant. The company joins its competitors, U.S. Steel and NLMK USA, in cutting back production in recent weeks. ArcelorMittal said in a statement: “In order to maintain its position as a competitive and sustainable tin plate producer, ArcelorMittal Weirton […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association announced today that Big River Steel has joined the association. SMA President Philip Bell welcomed BRS as an “epicenter for steelmaking innovation.” Big River Steel is located in Osceola, Ark. It calls itself the world’s first Flex Mill, merging the wide product mix and superior grade capabilities of an integrated mill […]
It’s official: North Star BlueScope in Delta, Ohio, will be getting a new EAF. Australian parent BlueScope Steel announced the expansion during its FY 2019 earnings presentation. The $700 million investment will add a third electric arc furnace and second caster at the facility, boosting annual capacity by 850,000 metric tons (936,949 net tons). Commissioning […]
U.S. Steel Corp is citing lower pricing and waning demand for the temporary layoff of approximately 200 workers at its Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich. In June, U.S. Steel announced that due to market conditions it would idle a blast furnace at Great Lakes as well as one at Gary Works in Indiana. At this […]
North Star BlueScope was a key contributor to FY 2019 results for Australian parent BlueScope Steel. Revenue at North Star totaled $916 million in the first half of the fiscal year and $784 million in the second half. Total FY 2019 revenue was $1.7 billion, up from $1.49 billion in FY 2018. North Star BlueScope’s […]
ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has the honor of providing the steel for the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years. Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding held a ceremony at its shipyard to celebrate cutting the first sheet of steel to be used in the construction of the vessel for Interlake Steamship […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco Holdings pulled off a profit for the second quarter despite significant headwinds. Second-quarter revenue decreased 39 percent from a year ago, shipping volume was down 27 percent and the average selling price per ton fell 15 percent to $761, the company reported during its earnings call on Wednesday. (All figures are […]
Electric arc furnace minimills may have a cost advantage in steel production today, but there are still 19 traditional blast furnaces going strong in the United States. Blast furnaces dominate about three-fourths of global steelmaking, but only three steel producers in the U.S. currently are using BF or basic oxygen furnace technology: U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal […]
As with any mill announcement, be it price, changes in production or in the case of the U.S. Steel’s announcement about how they are going to handle contracts going forward, there are always mixed opinions from steel buyers and from the other steel mills. This afternoon, Steel Market Update, as an index provider, spent a […]
Declining steel prices and inventory destocking contributed to a guidance miss for Ryerson Holding Corp. Although shipments increased 0.6 percent to 623,000 tons quarter-to-quarter, net sales fell 2.1 percent to $2.1 billion. Net income was $16.4 million, down from $30 million in the previous quarter and $18 million a year ago. Earnings per diluted share dropped […]
Steel shipments at Ternium Mexico were relatively flat in the second quarter, increasing 0.4 percent from the first quarter to 1.57 million metric tons. Sales of $1.37 billion slipped 3.9 percent from Q1 and fell 17 percent from Q2 2018. Steel prices have declined in the past three quarters in Mexico, mostly driven by a […]
Distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC sector are paying higher prices to their suppliers, but having difficulty collecting the increase from their contractor customers, reported members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International during their monthly conference call earlier today. Since HARDI’s last call, domestic flat rolled mills have announced three price […]
Demand for HVAC products remains relatively strong in an otherwise lukewarm steel market, but members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) say they are challenged by declining galvanized steel prices and rising intensity from the competition. Polled six weeks ago, nearly all the HARDI members expected galvanized steel prices to stay […]
Distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC industry remain surprisingly positive despite steel prices that have been on the decline for more than six months. While there is some variance by region and market segment, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International generally expect solid demand for their products at least through […]
Olympic Steel further advanced its strategy to add manufactured metal products to its portfolio with the acquisition this week of EZ-Dumper. EZ-Dumper, a nationally recognized brand, produces steel and stainless steel dump inserts for pickup truck and service truck beds. Built from heavy-gauge materials and backed by a structural steel frame, the dump inserts can […]
JSW Steel (USA), Inc., is seeking relief from the Section 232 tariffs on the steel slabs it must import temporarily to supply its mill in Baytown, Texas. The U.S. arm of the India-based steel producer has filed a complaint against the U.S. alleging that the Commerce Department’s denial of JSW’s request for exclusion from the […]
U.S. Steel has appointed Bryan Lewis as its new chief investment officer. Lewis has served as CIO for the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) since 2016, managing a $30 billion pension fund. Prior to his Pennsylvania position, he was the executive director of the $20 billion Illinois State Universities Retirement System. As CIO for […]
U.S. Steel reported sales of $3.5 billion in the second quarter, down from $3.6 billion a year ago due to lower steel prices. Net earnings totaled $68 million, down from the $214 million in the second quarter of 2018. The company’s flat rolled segment posted earnings of $134 million despite significant weather-related logistics problems during […]
Olympic Steel executives expressed positive sentiments about the company’s performance during an “unusual” second quarter despite declines in both sales and income compared with the same period last year. The Cleveland-based service center reported quarterly net sales of $429 million, 5 percent lower than in second-quarter 2018. Net income for the quarter totaled $2.1 million, […]
ArcelorMittal suffered a net loss of $447 million in the second quarter due to high raw material costs and sharply lower steel prices in the U.S. resulting in impairment charges on fixed assets in ArcelorMittal USA of $600 million. An additional impairment charge of $347 million occurred due to the sale of assets related to […]
AK Steel’s net sales for the second quarter declined by 4 percent to about $1.68 billion due primarily to lower shipments to the slowing automotive market. Yet the steelmaker’s earnings for the quarter reached $66.8 million, an improvement from the $56.6 million in Q2 2018, though down from $72.9 million in the prior quarter. Hot rolled […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported net sales of $2.8 billion for the second quarter of 2019, a decrease of 2.5 percent from the first quarter. Net income totaled $183.1 million, down from $190.1 million in the prior quarter, while shipments totaled 1.5 million tons, up slightly (0.4 percent) from Q1. “We had a solid second […]
The wait is over—Steel Dynamics has announced it will build its new $1.9 billion flat rolled steel mill in Sinton, Texas, 30 miles northwest of Corpus Christi. The new steel mill will serve the four-state Texas area, the western U.S. and Mexico market regions, representing approximately 27 million tons of relevant flat rolled steel consumption—7 […]
Steel Dynamics is expecting modest growth for steel consumption in the second half of 2019 supported by the end of steel inventory destocking and further reduction of steel imports. “The team delivered a solid second-quarter performance in a challenging steel pricing environment,” said SDI President and CEO Mark Millett. “A weakening scrap price environment coupled […]
SSAB Americas saw a drop in sales from first to second quarter due to lower volumes and prices. Sales of SEK 4.5 billion ($485 million) were down 6 percent from Q1 but were 13 percent higher than a year ago. The company reported good demand in several segments but cautious buying and destocking at service […]
EVRAZ NA announced the resignation of president and chief executive officer Conrad Winkler and the appointment of James “Skip” Herald as the new CEO. The change in leadership will be effective Aug. 5, 2019. Winkler, CEO since July 2013, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, said a press release from the company. Winkler led the […]
Nucor reported a decline in earnings for the second quarter of 2019 due to lower shipments and pricing. A build-up of inventory before the Section 232 tariffs resulted in aggressive destocking at the end of 2018 and into 2019, which impacted order rates, along with an increase in domestic steel supply and a declining scrap […]
Perhaps taking a page from automakers’ playbook, ArcelorMittal USA reportedly sent a letter to its suppliers last week stating that it planned to implement a 10 percent price reduction on all existing purchase agreements, effective July 31. S&P Global Platts reported that ArcelorMittal is calling on suppliers to help it cut costs as it works […]