Because of the severity of the curtailment of steelmaking at US Steel Gary Works and the shut down of steelmaking operations at USS Great Lakes we feel it is important to update our readers and the greater steel community as to what we have learned over the past 48 hours. First, Great Lakes steelmaking operations […]
Steel Market Update was forwarded the following article by one of our contacts in Asia. The article quotes the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) which reported high levels of debt within the Chinese steel industry. The Chinese appear destined to repeat what happened to the U.S. steel industry during the early 2000’s when many […]
“Mills are stubborn this week. We’ll see what happens when US gets caught back up,” is how one steel executive pegged the market for Steel Market Update earlier today. Many of the steel service centers we spoke to over the past few days are indicating there is strengthening demand in portions of their business. What […]
US Steel has been very cooperative answering Steel Market Update inquiries regarding the status of their Gary Works and Great Lakes steel mills. Both mills have issues regarding steelmaking operations. Because the steel industry is prone to over-react when production issues hit any mill we thought it prudent to try to understand to the best […]
Steel Market Update requested information from US Steel regarding the status of USS Gary Works, which has been running steelmaking at reduced capacity due to a lack of raw materials and, USS Great Lakes which has steelmaking operations temporarily down due to damages suffered when a main collector pipe fell collapsing part of the roof […]
Unusual ice build-up on the Great Lakes has caused delays of raw materials headed for steel mills in the Midwest. Earlier this week, US Steel notified customers that Gary Works blast furnaces and steelmaking operations will be down temporarily due to “unforeseen and unprecedented ice conditions on the Great Lakes that is delaying the transportation […]
US Steel recently announced a series of executive changes. David Britten, current Senior Vice President – Tubular Operations, will assume the newly created position of Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Britten will be responsible for a further expansion of the company’s worldwide innovation, technology, engineering, and research and development of products, services and […]
In a letter to their customers, US Steel advised that their Gary Works blast furnaces and steelmaking operations will be down temporarily due to “unforeseen and unprecedented ice conditions on the Great Lakes that is delaying the transportation of critical raw materials.” The mill went on to say that these conditions have not occurred on […]
Another Chinese steelmaker has filed for bankruptcy. Jiangsu Shente Steel Co., Ltd., a large scale mill and distribution center, is the latest company forced to close. Earlier in the month Haixen Steel, a steel mill in China’s Shanxi province, shut down operations after defaulting on loans, fueling concerns of widespread default for Chinese corporations. Tighter […]
US Steel’s Great Lakes (Ecorse) facility suffered a roof collapse at the #2 BOP on Thursday evening which has ceased steelmaking operations at the plant. According to our sources, the USS Great Lakes facility in Ecorse, Michigan only has one basic oxygen process plant (BOP) which is fed molten pig iron from the blast furnaces […]
A Houston, Texas jury returned a verdict for $52 million in damages against Nucor Corp., Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., its unit Chapel Steel Corp., American Alloy Steel Inc., and JSW Steel Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit brought by former plate steel distributor MM Steel, LP. SSAB was also named in the lawsuit but settled […]
The word out of U.S. Steel has been silence since they reported a collection pipe (collector main) falling onto and collapsing part of the roof over their #2 BOP Shop at Great Lakes Works on Thursday evening. Our understanding continues to be that all three blast furnaces are in hot idle (not producing pig iron) […]
CENTRIA Coating Services has promoted two longstanding employees of the organization. Jim Connelly will assume the newly created position of Director of Continuous Improvement and Supplier Relations and Charlie Hamilton has been named Director of Coil Coating Operations for the company’s two plants. “Both of these individuals exemplify CENTRIA’s ‘That’s How We Roll’ swagger,” said […]
The following article was written by contributing writer David Phelps. Mr. Phelps is recently retired from his duties as the Director of the American Institute for International Steel. In that capacity he had occasion to interact with the domestic steel mills. The following article contains the viewpoint of Mr. Phelps regarding Big River Steel and […]
ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) announced Chris Richards has been appointed president of AM/NS Calvert. Richards will oversee all areas of operations at the Alabama mill and will report to and serve on a joint venture managing board. He most recently served as president of the AM/NSSMC joint venture I/N Tek and […]
Last week Steel Market Update published an article from one of our contributing writers, David Phelps who was the former president of the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS). The article was about Big River Steel and Nucor. You can link to the original article by clicking here. One of our readers had strong opinions […]
US Steel has essentially lost a steel mill – Great Lakes in Ecorse, Michigan – for how long is the unknown question. Part of the roof collapsed in the building which houses their basic oxygen furnace (they called it a basic oxygen process or BOP). It is the most critical piece of equipment in the […]
US Steel’s Great Lakes (Ecorse) facility suffered a roof collapse at the #2 BOP on Thursday evening which has ceased steelmaking operations at the plant. According to our sources, the USS Great Lakes facility in Ecorse, Michigan only has one basic oxygen process plant (BOP) which is fed molten pig iron from the blast furnaces […]
Even as other companies were issuing lower guidance due to weather and its impact on negatively impacting their earnings during the first three months 2014, Worthington Industries reported their fiscal year 2014 3rd Quarter results which ended on February 28, 2014 as being the best in the company’s history. The company reported earnings of $40.6 […]
According to recently released data from Novileptsk (NLMK), their North American operations sold 737,000 net tons of flat rolled steel products during the 4th Quarter 2013. This includes sales of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. The new number represents an improvement of 240,000 tons compared to the 4Q 2012 (+30 percent). For the […]
The following article was written by contributing writer David Phelps. Mr. Phelps is recently retired from his duties as the Director of the American Institute for International Steel. In that capacity he had occasion to interact with the domestic steel mills. The following article contains the viewpoint of Mr. Phelps regarding Big River Steel and […]
US Steel is considering replacing additional blast furnaces with electric arc furnaces (EAF) according to President and CEO Mario Longhi. In January, US Steel announced it was seeking permits to replace the blast furnace at Fairfield, Ala., with an EAF, a process that would take approximately three years from application to completion. The EAF would […]
ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) announced Chris Richards has been appointed president of AM/NS Calvert. Richards will oversee all areas of operations at the Alabama mill and will report to and serve on a joint venture managing board. He most recently served as president of the AM/NSSMC joint venture I/N Tek and […]
A former Severstal executive has been indicted for hiding as much as $7.5 million from US tax authorities in Swiss bank accounts held at UBS AG. Victor Lipukhin, a former steel trader for Russian steel maker Severstal, hid assets in two Swiss UBS bank accounts from 2002 through 2007, said the Justice Department and IRS […]
Would you want to start up your own service center in today’s environment? The risk and rewards are much different than in the past and, more often than not, entrepreneurs are not opening steel distribution centers. Last week, Steel Market Update attended the Platts Steel Markets North America conference, where the challenges of service center […]
One of the keys watched by Steel Market Update is service center spot pricing into their customers – especially the manufacturing segment of the industry. We have found if service centers are lowering their spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels, especially after a price increase announcement, it is more difficult for […]
Big River Steel is cleared to begin construction. Mississippi County Judge Charles Moulton ruled in favor of the John Correnti led Big River Steel in an air quality permit lawsuit filed by rival steel-maker Nucor Corp. An air permit was provisionally granted on Sept 18, 2013 but subsequently challenged by Nucor on the basis that […]
Following an unsuccessful attempt to block the air pollution permit for Big River Steel, Nucor Corp. finds itself on the on the receiving end of tighter air pollution orders from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has ordered the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to require Nucor Steel Louisiana to take additional steps […]
Stemcor, a privately owned steel trading company hit hard by the global financial crisis, has secured a $1.15 billion syndicated loan to bolster trading activity that fell sharply after the company defaulted on an $850 million loan last year. Stemcor received approval last month by the UK courts to restructure its billion dollar debt and […]
New Star Metals has acquired Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) a provider of acoustical products used in brakes, body panels, and engine components. MSC also specializes in electro-galvanizing and coil coating of flat-rolled steel and aluminum and provides products and services to the automotive, construction, appliance, and lighting industries. “We are excited to complete the purchase […]