Earlier today Steel Market Update participated in the HARDI steel group conference call which resulted in more questions than answers being raised due to the uncertainty in the galvanized steel markets. The call began with a recap of the price announcements which were made by the domestic mills when AK Steel began the process on […]
Yesterday the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released their inventory and shipment data. According to the latest data total steel inventories dropped by 0.40 percent from the previous month and stood at 9,312,500 tons as of the end of October. Although down from the prior month steel inventories were 15.5 percent higher than October 2013. […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/– United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 — United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
US Steel announced a realignment of its reporting segments in order to meet strategic goals set forth in its Carnegie Way transformation. The North American flat-rolled segment will include creation of commercial entities to address specific markets. The realignment will take effect by January 1, 2015. “These commercial entities will put our company in a […]
The world’s largest steel trader, Duferco International Trading Holding, confirmed Tuesday it will sell a majority stake to China’s Hebei Iron & Steel Group. The deal is valued at approximately $400 million according to China News Service. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, is aimed at enhancing the ability of China’s largest steel company to sell […]
Jodi Parnel, Vice President of Supply Chain for O’Neal Steel spoke to the AWMI conference attendees on Friday of this past week. During her presentation Ms. Parnel explained how purchasing has changed since she began in the industry in 1998. “Service centers,” she explained, “no longer fill the gaps in a weak supply chain.” Steel […]
There is a new flat rolled steel mill under construction in Arkansas. The mill will be complete in 2016. However, we feel that many of you are probably interested to know what the timetable is for the ramp up of the mill at this point in time. We have obtained the ramp-up schedule from Big […]
Evraz Claymont Steel is slated for demolition by Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC). The Delaware mill, which has been idled since December 2013, will be sold by Evraz to CDC for an undisclosed figure by the end of the year. CDC plans to “take the site through a brownfield-cleanup process, which will include the demolition […]
Production has been suspended at the Nucor Louisiana DRI plant due to an major failure of the process gas heater on November 2. The company is assessing the damage from the incident but is not yet able to estimate how long repairs will take. The incident caused no injuries or environmental impact and no damage […]
ArcelorMittal reported $20 billion in sales for third quarter on 21.5 million tonnes (23.7 million tons) of steel shipments. Net income for the quarter was $22 million, compared to $52 million in Q2 2014 and a net loss of $193 million in Q3 2013. Total crude steel production for the company was 23.9 million tonnes […]
Ternium reported earnings for the 3rd quarter 2014 this week. Ternium is a large steel producer in Mexico, which accounts for 60 percent of the company’s shipments, as well as Argentina which accounts for 24 percent. Ternium also owns a conversion mill in the United States which produces galvanized and Galvalume products along with prepainted […]
The World Steel Association published its 2014 statistical year book this week with data through 2013. Figure 1 shows total crude steel production in the U.S. since 1880 in short tons. The peak production was 150,483,000 tons in 1973. The final total for 2013 was 95,566,000 tons, down by 2.05 percent from 97,565,000 in 2012. […]
Over the past few days, Steel Market Update has received a number of inquiries from steel buyers who were upset that they are being put into a position where they have to consider buying foreign steel rather than domestic due to the pricing disparity between the two products. A Midwest service center buyer reported that […]
Olympic Steel, a metals service center headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, reported net sales of 376.6 million for third quarter, an increase of 23.9 percent year over year and a new third quarter sales record. Net sales on flat products totaled $312 million while sales for tubular and pipe products totaled $63.8 million. Flat rolled shipments […]
Kloeckner Metals Corporation, the Americas segment of Klockner & Co. SE, had shipments of 733,000 tonnes (807,989 tons) in third quarter 2014, up 2.6 percent year over year due to favorable market development. Shipments were even with second quarter results. Sales were €634 million ($7.9 million), compared to €608 million ($7.5 million) in Q2 and […]
China has a number of taxes on steel, both domestically and for exports. This is one of the misunderstandings many countries have (including the United States). We have been speaking about the subject with one of our key Asian trading contacts over the past few days as we asked about possible suspension of Boron added […]
AK Steel reported a net loss of $7.2 million for the third quarter of 2013 due to one-time costs associated with the acquisition of Severstal Dearborn. Excluding the acquisition related costs, AK Steel’s adjusted net income was $16.4 million. Net sales were $1.59 billion on shipments of 1,462,900 tons. Shipments increased from 1,242,400 tons in […]
Nucor Corp. is reportedly one of the steel mill in talks with Cliffs Natural Resources over an investment plan for the Bloom Lake iron ore mine in Canada. Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in the company earning calls that Cliffs would seek three investors, to partner at 10 percent each, to develop Phase 2 of […]
US Steel announced in their earnings conference call that Carnegie Way benefits now total $495 million for 2014 due primarily to improvements in manufacturing processes, supply chain and logistics, and SG&A reductions. “While our operating difficulties in North America in the first half of the year made it difficult to see the results of our […]
Steel Dynamics announced that effective immediately Don Switzer will be assuming the role of Manager of Sales for its recently acquired steel-making facility in Columbus, Mississippi. Switzer will succeed Kasandra Lutzko who recently left the company to pursue other interests. Mr. Switzer joined Steel Dynamics in 2006 as Product Manager for pre-painted products and most […]
ArcelorMittal announced today the formation of a flat-rolled segment in North America as well as a shake-up in leadership to enhance performance in its North American operations. The North American segment represents one fourth of the company’s steel shipments and profits. The reorganization is expected to improve North American operations and accelerate the successful integration […]
Commercial Metals Company (CMC) reported net earnings of $34.9 million for its fourth quarter ending August 31, 2014. Net sales increased 12 percent year over year to $1.9 billion. For the full fiscal year 2014, net earnings were 115.6 million on net sales of 7 billion. In comparison, FY 2013 net earnings were 77.3 million […]
Esmark Inc has confirmed its interest in acquiring all the assets of Serbian government-owned steel facility Zelezara Smederevo, a producer of steel, hot-rolled and cold-rolled products, and tin plate-coated products serving customers in Central Europe. Esmark Inc. has formed Esmark Europe to lead mill operations, finance, and commercial sales if the bid is successful. During a […]
AK Steel became the first mill since mid-August 2014 to announce an increase on flat rolled steel products. This evening AK Steel advised through a press release (which is normal for them) the following: WEST CHESTER, OH, October 28, 2014 — AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it will increase current spot market base […]
A.M. Castle & Co. reported net sales of $245.5 million for third quarter for a net loss of $7.3 million. Metals segment sales totaled $210.7 million, down 1.6 percent from the previous quarter and 4.2 percent lower year over year. Pricing dropped 2.5 percent and sales volumes declined 1.4 percent compared to Q3 2013. “While […]
SSAB Americas sales jumped 29 percent year over year to SEK 3,716 million ($507 million) for an operating profit of SEK 558 million ($76 million). Profit was attributed primarily to higher steel prices and improved productivity. Steel shipments increased 5 percent to 559,000 tonnes (616,191 tons) on a year over year basis and 7 percent […]
US Steel reports a third quarter net loss of $207 million compared to a loss of $1.791 billion during the second quarter 2014. Results include non-cash restructuring costs and $45 million in gains from sale of real estate. Adjusted net income was $325 million. Sales rose 11 percent to $4.59 billion and shipments were up […]
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 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 quarterly forecast to the HARDI members located in the […]