Another steel mill bites the bullet and lays off employees as a result of poor market conditions. Alton Steel laid off 88 union workers at its melt shop and bar mill for a period of at least three weeks or more. According to a union member in report by local news source The Telegraph, the […]
On Easter Sunday, US Steel began the layoff of 165 employees at its Irvin plant at Mon Valley Works in West Mifflin, Pa. The layoffs are expected to be short term and according to Local Union 2227 President Kevin McKelvey, some of the workers could be back on the job as early as next week. […]
There have been so many announcements made by the integrated steel mills (US Steel and ArcelorMittal especially) since the beginning of 2015 we thought we would provide details on various blast furnace outages and other equipment and plants associated with steel making that have been affected by slowing order books in the energy sectors and […]
US Steel Canada will be in court on Thursday to settle the terms of sale for its steel mills, Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works. Workers and the provincial government objected to a clause in the proposed plan which would freeze the sale process if any bidder’s offer included settlement of debts owed to it […]
NLMK USA shipped 489,000 tonnes of flat rolled steel products in Q4 2014 compared to 534,000 tonnes in the previous quarter, a drop of 9 percent q/q. Revenue for fourth quarter was $405 million, down from $445 million in Q3. EBITDA for the quarter was $19 million compared to $36 million in Q3 and $30 […]
US Steel announced today it will adjust operations and temporarily idle a portion of its Minntac plant in Mount Iron, Minnesota, effective June 1st 2015. This is due to the company’s current iron ore inventory levels and ongoing adjustment of its steel making operations throughout North America. The company will continue to operate Minntac at reduced capacity […]
ArcelorMittal may temporarily idle some of its operations at Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico’s largest steel producer and slab exporter, according to reports by El Diario and BN Americas. “ArcelorMittal Lázaro Cárdenas is considering a temporary idling of certain steel producing operations,” a company spokesman told BN Americas in an emailed statement. “However, we are still in […]
US Steel announced Wednesday it would consolidate its North American Flat-Rolled operations and temporarily idle operations at Granite City, Ill. Layoffs at Granite City will be effective on or after May 28, 2015. Granite City is the primary supplier for US Steel Lone Star Tubular which was issued layoff notices in January due to the […]
First, before everyone goes completely crazy regarding the US Steel announcement to “idle” the Granite City Works steel plant, SMU has been told by Courtney Boone, US Steel media spokesperson, that the plant would not go down prior to May 28, 2015. A lot can happen (and will happen) in the industry prior to that […]
The following information is from the United States Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs concerning an accident at US Steel Fairfield in September 2014. Steel Market Update spoke to the U.S. Department of Labor who told us that the press release was not unusually harsh and the Labor Department was going with “narrative releases” […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $804.8 million and a net loss of $25.7 million for the third quarter of FY 2015 ending February 28, 2015. Results included a non-cash impairment charge of $81.6 million related to the Engineered Cabs business and a USD 2.3 million restructuring charge for severance benefits related to the workforce […]
This morning Steel Market Update (SMU) participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The conference call is for those HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada. Since the last conference call held during the later days in February, galvanized […]
ArcelorMittal Cleveland is planning several maintenance outages over the next few months. A vessel reline at No. 1 basic oxygen furnace (BOF) begins on March 23 and will be completed by the middle of second quarter. The No. 1 steel producing facility will continue operations with one vessel throughout the outage period. The C-5 blast […]
Nucor Corporation plans to take the battle against construction of Big River Steel another step. Attorneys for Nucor filed a notice that it will appeal the dismissal of its lawsuit against Big River Steel. On February 25, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes ruled that Nucor’s lawsuit was invalid under the citizen lawsuit provision of the […]
Unfairly traded imports are negatively impacting AK Steel earnings in the first quarter of 2015. AK Steel expects a net loss of $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share in the first quarter due to low carbon steel shipment and spot prices as a result of “unexpectedly” high levels of imports. Shipments are expected to decrease […]
Dutch company HPK Engineering has been awarded a 3-year management contract for Serbian steel mill Zelezara Smederevo. After nearly a year of negotiations with the Serbian government US-based Esmark was pushed out of the running for purchase and management of the state-owned steel mill. HPK Engineering pledged to invest $20 million in the plant to […]
US Steel announced today it will move forward with two capital projects at Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Alabama. The announcement follows approval by Jefferson County commissioners for more than $14 million in tax abatements on the two investments over the next 10 years. The projects planned for Fairfield Works are a $230 million electric arc […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in February decreased by 182,800 tons to 3.185 million tons. Shipping days at 20 were one less than February. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 160,400 in January to 159,300 in February. In the eleven years since 2004 February shipments on average have been 0.1 […]
Steel Dynamics expects that a decline in steel shipments caused by inventory overhang, hesitant demand and margin compression will lower first quarter profitability. In the company’s first quarter guidance, SDI noted: “During the first quarter of 2015, two important industry developments occurred: – “Domestic steel product pricing declined to levels that are now globally competitive, […]
According to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. service centers shipped 3,332,300 tons of all steel products during the month of February 2015. The daily shipment rate was 166,600 tons per day, down 1.4 percent over February 2014 when the daily shipment rate was 169,000 tons. In comparison to the […]
A plan to sell US Steel Canada plants Hamilton and Lake Erie Works will be sent for court approval March 30. The prepared court documents outline a plan for “soliciting interest in and opportunities for a sale, restructuring or recapitalization of the assets and business operations” of US Steel Canada. The two-step sale process involves […]
The United Steel Workers will be negotiating new contracts with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal later this year. The current three-year contracts expire August 31, 2015. Discussions start a few months before and serious bargaining begins about a month before contract expiration, said USW Communications Director Wayne Ranick. Contract negotiations are frequently contentious battles as evidenced […]
US Steel has cut 83 more workers at Gary Works as it adjusts production to respond to market fluctuations. The latest cuts are probationary employees at the Gary Works steel complex who have worked for the company six months or less. US Steel spokesperson Sarah Casella said the layoffs are permanent. “The company routinely adjusts […]
ArcelorMittal is preparing to idle the No 3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor for scheduled stove repair on March 16. The steel making outage is expected to last until late second quarter 2015. A statement received from ArcelorMittal read as follows: “ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor will move forward with a previously scheduled maintenance outage to conduct […]
The domestic steel mills are resorting to adjustments in supply as a weapon against the chronic short lead times which are helping to push flat rolled steel prices lower and lower. The heavy lifting is being done by the integrated steel mills, especially by U.S. Steel which has taken three blast furnaces down over the […]
US Steel operations at Minnesota Ore Operations-Keetac will be temporarily idled as of May 13. The company said the idling is due to “current inventory levels and adjustment of its steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand.” US Steel cited global influences in the market, including unfairly traded imports, as contributors to a […]
Esmark Europe has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Slovakian businessman Peter Kamaras for attempting to undermine Esmark Europe’s bid for Zelezara Smederevo Steel Works. Esmark asserts that Kasmaras aligned himself as an investor and agent with Esmark Europe to gain inside information while simultaneously undermining Esmarks’ bid to privatize Zelezara Smederevo for […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp, the Americas segment of Klockner & Co., posted EBITDA of €19 million ($21 million) for fourth quarter 2014, as compared to €2 million ($2.2 million) year over year. Sales for fourth quarter were €604 million, down from third quarter €634 million ($665 million) but up 16.3 percent y/y. Shipments in fourth quarter […]