January service center shipments were exceptional. There are times when we wish we weren’t so hung up on three month moving averages and this is one of them. Daily shipments increased by 29.9 percent from December. Since 2009 on average, January has increased 8.1 percent hence our enthusiasm for the latest data. Carbon steel shipments […]
The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) called on the Trump administration to create a strategy that will evaluate trade violations impacting the entire industrial metals supply chain. MSCI president and CEO Robert Weidner said trade enforcement measures must protect not only the mills but also distributors, fabricators and processors in the supply chain. MSCI has […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released shipment and inventories data for the steel service centers located in the United States. They reported higher shipment rates coupled with lower flat rolled inventories (higher overall for all products) which is very supportive for prices to tighten over the next 30 days. U.S. steel service centers (all […]
US Steel announced today that it will withdraw “without prejudice” its trade secrets claim from the Section 337 complaint it filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission against China. US Steel will continue to pursue its claims of antitrust and false designation. The company released the following statement: “We remain committed in our efforts to […]
Essar Steel Algoma, under protection by the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act since November 2015, held its own in production and sales in January. January production surpassed 232,000 tons making it the highest single month production since September 2014. Improved selling prices and increased shipments brought in revenue of CAD $153 million in January for an […]
Total Canadian steel shipments for all products in January were 411,800 net tons, an increase of 42.0 percent from the month before and an increase of 5.7 percent from January 2016. Total steel inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,178,200 tons, up 0.6 percent from last month but down 5.8 percent from […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported sales of $2.06 billion in fourth quarter, up 1.7 percent from fourth quarter 2015 and down 5.7 percent from Q3 2016. Tons sold at 1,365,000 were down 1.1 percent from Q4 2015 and down 5.6 percent from third quarter. Average selling price per ton sold was $1,500, essentially the same […]
SSAB Americas posted strong sales and shipments in fourth quarter 1016. The segment, which includes the mills located in Mobile, Alabama and Montpelier, Iowa, shipped 502,000 tonnes in Q4, up 19 percent from the previous quarter and 15 percent from Q4 2015. Sales totaled SEK 2,825 million ($318 million), an increase from third quarter and […]
It has been four weeks since the last HARDI galvanized steel conference call. The call provides a forum for the HARDI HVAC wholesalers and other associated HARDI members to discuss trends affecting galvanized steel prices. Over the past four weeks market prices have eased a bit but many of the factors that drive prices are […]
ArcelorMittal NAFTA segment results declined in fourth quarter 2016. Steel shipments decreased by 6.6 percent to 5 million tonnes from third quarter driven by an 8.5 percent decrease in flat volumes due to destocking in the United States. NAFTA sales were down 11.1 percent from the prior quarter to $3.8 billion due to lower average […]
ArcelorMittal said it expects global apparent steel consumption to grow between 0.5 and 1.5 percent in 2017, compared to 1.0 percent growth last year. Underlying demand is expected to pick up in Europe supported by the automotive market, but apparent demand growth in the region is forecast at a modest 0.5-1.5 percent compared to 2 […]
The US Steel Granite City hot strip mill is back in action as promised. US Steel has called 225 employees back to work to restart the facility’s idled hot mill. For the present, only the hot mill will be restarted which reheats steel slabs, sourced from other US Steel mills, to process them into coil. […]
USW Local 2251 at Essar Steel Algoma has called a strike vote for Tuesday, February 28. The union says it has no choice after withdrawing a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board and accepting that the collective agreement contract expired on July 31, 2016. The union is now subject to the provisions of Local […]
Essar Steel Algoma announced on Tuesday that it has received an extension to its Debtor-in-Possession financing facility (DIP). The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approve the amendment and extension on January 31, extending the DIP to March 31 with the option of a further thirty day extension. Stay of proceedings has also been extended to […]
NLMK USA has restarted its #2 hot-dip galvanizing line at the Sharon Coating facility in Pennsylvania in response to increased domestic demand. The #2 line had been idled since 2002 due to weak demand in the U.S. galvanized steel market. The line has a capacity of approximately 226,000 metric tonnes per year (249,118 tons) and […]
In the last week there have been four statements released regarding the restructuring of Essar Steel Algoma. The first began last weekend with an appeal by former parent company Essar Global to be readmitted to the bidding process for Algoma. Essar Global criticized the Sales and Investment Solicitation Process (SISP) noting that KPS Capital dropped […]
February 1, 2017 (Osceola, Arkansas) – Big River Steel today announced that it has established a new production record in terms of tons of steel produced by a SMS group supplied flat-rolled mini mill during the first full month of operation. With over 63,000 tons of hot rolled steel produced in January, Big River Steel’s […]
US Steel said it is prepared to provide steel for the pipeline projects recently approved by the Trump administration. “The American manufacturing base on steel is fully prepared to supply what is needed for the pipelines and for the general infrastructure projects that are certainly going to come,” US Steel CEO Mario told CNBC in […]
A war of words is underway between Essar Steel Algoma secured creditors and former parent company Essar Global Fund. In a letter to the CCAA monitor Essar Global asserted that with the restructuring efforts still not resolved, the Sale and Investment Solicatation Process should be reopened to allow Essar to present its interest in acquiring […]
US Steel CEO Mario Longhi has been in the limelight recently due to his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. During US Steel’s earnings call, he was asked to shed light on some of the trade and manufacturing issues that were discussed. Longhi was asked what kind of insight the President is […]
Nucor Corporation plans to help the new administration bring manufacturing back to America. It is off to a good start by posting solid earnings results for fourth quarter 2016. Nucor announced consolidated net earnings of $159.6 million for fourth quarter 2016 compared to $305.4 million in third quarter and a loss of $187.5 million a […]
US Steel narrowed its annual net loss in 2016, posting a full year loss of $440 million compared to a net loss of $1.6 billion in 2015. Net sales for the year totaled $10,261 million. Sales for fourth quarter were $2.65 billion, down from 2.69 billion in third quarter. The company posted a net loss […]
December service center daily shipments declined by 13.1 percent from November, a non event because since 2009 on average December has declined by 13.2 percent. Carbon steel shipments decreased by 369,100 tons, the number of shipping days was unchanged at 21, and tons per day (t/d) shipments decreased by 17,600 tons. Inventories at 6,754,200 tons […]
Two of America’s steel industry leaders are among a team of 28 business leaders assembled by President Trump to provide ideas on how to promote job growth in the manufacturing sector. US Steel president and CEO Mario Longhi, and John Ferriola, president and CEO of Nucor will be among those consulted by the President for […]
US Steel may be about to sell its Kosice plant in Slovakia to Chinese company He Steel, according to rumors in the Slovakian press. The Slovak Spectator reports that economic daily Hospodárske Noviny wrote that US Steel and He Steel signed a memorandum of understanding in Pittsburgh on July 26. US Steel Kosice spokesperson Jan […]
Acero Junction has started the process of running their first slabs. We, along with the rest of the world, were given a peak at the process when someone from within the mill took a video of the first “bar” which is the first step of the rolling process once the heated slab leaves the re-heat […]
Steel Dynamics announced net income of $20 million for fourth quarter 2016. Company net sales totaled $1.9 billion, down from $2.1 billion in third quarter. Operating income decreased to $239.5 million from $338.7 million in the previous quarter. Steel shipments for the quarter totaled 2.2 million; fabrication shipments totaled 131,186 tons. Average selling price for […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Steel Market Update inadvertently used third quarter data when reporting results for AK Steel in Tuesday’s issue. The information has been corrected on the website. For those of you who received the inaccurate information in your newsletter, please note the following changes to the first three paragraphs of the article. AK Steel Strategy Leads to […]
The following article has been revised as of 1-25-2017. Net income/loss was incorrectly reported. SMU apologizes for the confusion. AK Steel reported a net loss of $62.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to net loss of 145.4 million in Q4 2015. Sales totaled $1.42 billion with an average selling price of $998 […]