US Steel announced on Wednesday that Mario Longhi has stepped down as CEO of US Steel Corp. As of May 8, 2017, president and chief operating officer David Burritt will take the reins as chief executive officer. Longhi will remain on the board of directors and as an employee of US Steel, providing transitional support, […]
The retirement of Mario Longhi from US Steel follows the company’s devastating first quarter loss of $180 million. Despite efforts to rein in costs at US Steel through the much touted Carnegie Way, US Steel managed only one profitable year, 2014, under Longhi’s tenure. The Q1 2017 results caused a 27 percent crash of US […]
Nucor Corporation announced today the promotion of Leon Topalian to Executive Vice President, effective May 14, 2017. Topalian is currently Vice President and General Manager of Nucor-Yamato Steel Company. John Ferriola, Nucor’s Chairman, CEO and President, commented, “Leon has served Nucor in many key roles, and now he will be a strong addition to our […]
Stelco, the former US Steel Canada, is getting nearer to emerging from CCAA protection. A “sanction hearing” is scheduled for June 9 during which the court will decide whether Bedrock Industries will be the new owner. Bedrock has the support of most of the stakeholders but is still facing resistance from the local unions who […]
The State of Texas is attempting to lure a new flat rolled steel mill to the state. According to various press reports there appear to be two interested parties: Big River Steel and the E United Group out of Taiwan. Is Big River Steel already planning to expand? That seems to be what the Port […]
SSAB announced it is opening a new office near Detroit, Michigan that will serve SSAB’s existing and potential customers. The new sales office is located in the Town Center complex in the town of Southfield. “I’m thrilled that we are opening this new office in Michigan,” said Olavi Huhtala, head of SSAB’s European and automotive […]
Olympic Steel reported a very positive first quarter. Higher shipment volume and pricing resulted in a 30 percent increase in net sales to $334.9 million resulting in net income of $7.7 million. Sales and margins increased in all three segments of Olympic Steel due to increased demand and higher pricing. Carbon flat products turned in […]
NLMK USA sales jumped 33 percent from fourth to first quarter on stronger demand from construction and pipe manufacturers. Sales volume totaled 562,000 tonnes. Sales revenue was $399 million, which included $186 million for HRC, $109 million for CRC, $96 million for HDG, and $1 million for slabs. Profit for first quarter was $54 million […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum turned in a strong first quarter with sales up 17.4 percent to $2.42 billion from Q4 2016 and net income up 81 percent to $111.7 million. On a year-over-year basis sales were up 11.9 percent and income 21.1 percent. “Improved demand, higher metal pricing and continued strong execution resulted in record […]
US Steel stunned analysts and the financial community on Tuesday/Wednesday when the company announced a large loss when the street was expecting the company to make money. During the conference call the mill advised that they essentially need to upgrade their facilities in order for the company to remain competitive. The stock price dropped 25 […]
AK Steel reported net income of $62.5 million for its best first quarter since 2008. Shipments declined to 1,486,900 tons year-over-year due to intentionally reduced sales of lower margin products. Net sales increased one percent from Q1 2016 to $1.53 billion as a result of increases in average selling price on both spot and contract […]
Swedish steel mill SSAB posted an operating profit of SEK 702 million for the first quarter 2017 ($79.2 million). Higher prices and increased shipments at SSAB Europe helped drive profits for the company. SSAB Americas also saw an increase in realized prices during first quarter and stronger margins as scrap metal prices increased. A maintenance […]
Correction: In last Thursday’s issue of Steel Market Update we mistakenly referenced earnings from a previous period instead of the 1Q 2017 report. Here is what Steel Dynamics had to say in their announcement on April 19, 2017: FORT WAYNE, Ind., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ/GS: STLD) today announced first quarter […]
This morning Steel Dynamics (SDI) conducted their earnings conference call with analysts where they discussed their 1Q earnings and how they see the steel markets shaping up in the coming months. During the call, CEO Mark Millet told the analysts that the market will support “good prices” for the steel mills and he was not […]
With consolidated sales of $4.82 billion which is a 30 percent increase over 1Q 2016 and net earnings of $356.9 million it was a good 1st Quarter 2017 for the company. The company reported that the second quarter earnings should exceed that of 1st Quarter. The overall operating rates at the Nucor steel mills was […]
HAMILTON, ON, April 19, 2017 /CNW/ – Stelco, the name under which U. S. Steel Canada Inc. carries on business (“Stelco” or the “Company”), announces that it and Bedrock Industries Group LLC (Bedrock) have reached an agreement in principle (the “Agreement”) with the Stelco salaried employees and retirees and certain others represented by court-appointed representatives […]
Steel Market Update participates in a monthly steel conference call hosted by HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International) for their members. The HARDI conference call is dedicated to a better understanding of the galvanized steel market. The participants are wholesalers, service centers and manufacturing companies who either buy or sell galvanized sheet products used […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) is providing two articles on the MSCI (Metal Service Center Institute) data for March 2017 for United States steel distributors in tonight’s newsletter. The first article is our normal analysis and the second article is a deeper dive analysis normally provided to our Premium level readers. Publisher, John Packard, also provides […]
At first glance this was a good report but that impression diminished on closer examination. Year over year the report was quite good but the number of shipping days increased by three and the normal March month over month shipment surge was very muted. Daily shipments increased by 1.7 percent from February. Since 2009 on […]
NLMK USA steel output increased by 53 percent quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2017 to 180,000 tonnes and by 15 percent year-over year. Flat steel output rose 27 percent q/q to 530,000 tonnes (up 16 percent y/y) due to strong demand in the United States. Sales were up 33 percent from last quarter to 560,000 tonnes driven […]
Total Canadian steel shipments for all products in March were 421,300 net tons, an increase of 15.2 percent from the month before and an increase of 7.4 percent from March 2017. Total steel inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,165,000 tons, down 0.5 percent from last month and down 2.0 percent from […]
US Steel has completed repairs on a waste water pipe that spilled contaminants in the Burns Waterway at the US Steel Midwest Plant in Portage, Ind., last week. The EPA has been testing Lake Michigan water in the region and, so far, has not found significant levels of toxin present. On Friday, US Steel announced […]
The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) announced that, effective April 11, 2017, Daniel DiMicco will serve as Chairman. CPA is a nonpartisan coalition of domestic manufacturing, organized labor, ranching and farming focused on U.S. policies that ensure fair trade for Americans. DiMicco was the former CEO of Nucor Corp and a member of President […]
USW Local 2251 voted 98.6 percent in favor of ratification of a Support Agreement for an undisclosed party interested in acquiring the assets of Essar Steel Algoma Inc. The announcement was made April 10 in a press release signed by Local 2251 president Mike Da Prat. Da Prat told the Sault Star that he could […]
Steel Market Update took our latest Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals on the road today as we traveled to Delta, OH to tour the North Star Bluescope steel mini-mill. Our group consisted of attendees visiting a steel mill for the first time (one of our attendees was on the second day […]
WEST CHESTER, OH–(Marketwired – Apr 7, 2017) – AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) celebrated the grand opening of its new world-class Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio. The event marked the formal opening of the new $36 million, 135,000 square foot facility, built on 16-acres near AK Steel’s Middletown Works and its West Chester, Ohio […]
Most of the domestic mills and the large public service centers will be releasing their first quarter earnings and conducting conference call later this month. Here is a quick snapshot for those of you who might have an interest in listening in when the calls are made:
On Thursday SMU reported that tax incentives aimed at helping Big River Steel expand had passed the Arkansas Senate. The Senate Bill 688 has now been approved by the House in a 79-11 vote on Friday. SMU also received a comment on the legislation from Big River Steel’s CEO, Dave Stickler. Rep. Monte Hodges, D-Blytheville, […]
Essar Steel Algoma is making progress on paying its debts. According to the latest (27th) Monitors report, Algoma has repaid $42.7 million as of March 25, 2017 through weekly “cash sweeps” to its Debtor in Possession lenders. Another $2.5 million will be paid on April 3 which will result in reducing the outstanding balance under […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $703.4 million for third quarter FY 2017 and net earnings of $35.9 million. The company claimed inventory holding losses of $3 million and restructuring charges of $1.4 million. “We had a very good third quarter performance with Steel Processing contributing near record earnings and overall, we produced year-over-year growth, which […]