When gas is restored to Altos Hornos de México’s (AHMSA’s) plants, operations could restart at the Mexican steelmaker as early as next week, and within six weeks steel production could be at a good level, according to comments by AHMSA’s CEO in a Mexican media report. However, although Daniel Chapman, founder and CEO of investment fund […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has successfully completed a hydrogen (H2) injection trial at its Middletown Works blast furnace in Ohio. “This groundbreaking introduction of hydrogen gas as an iron-reducing agent in the blast furnace is the first-ever use of this carbon friendly technology in the Americas region,” the Cleveland-based steelmaker said in a statement on Monday. Cliffs noted […]
A senator from West Virginia believes the US Army Corps of Engineers’ permitting process for Nucor’s planned mill in Mason County is dragging on too long. “I absolutely think it’s moving too slowly,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va), said during a virtual press conference with reporters on Thursday, according to Huntington, W.Va.’s The Herald-Dispatch. […]
Cleveland-Cliffs said Friday its employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 1943 at its Middletown Works in Ohio have ratified a new four-year labor agreement. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the agreement is effective on May 15, and covers approximately 2,100 hourly employees. A tentative labor deal was reached in […]
Olympic Steel’s first-quarter net earnings slid 73% from the same period last year, but the company sees customer demand remaining steady through the second quarter despite economic uncertainties. The Cleveland-based metals service center reported net income of $9.9 million in Q1, off from $37.3 million in the same period last year, on net sales that […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has progressed in its attempt to secure iron ore mineral leases at its land near Nashwauk, Minn. An agreement has been reached with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is up for review by the Minnesota Executive Council on May 25, Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO, said in a statement […]
The most recent cycle of destocking has ended, ArcelorMittal said, with first-quarter sales and shipments rising notably from the prior quarter, boosted by strength in the North American region. Those figures remain lower, however, compared to highs seen in the year-ago quarter. The Luxembourg-based global steelmaking giant posted Q1 net income of $1.096 billion, a […]
A federal judge in Mexico ordered that the electricity be restarted at Altos Hornos de México’s (AHMSA’s) steel mills, according to Mexican media reports. Crews from the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) started working on Monday to restore the electricity to the two mills in Monclova, Coahuila, according to a report from Mexico’s Radio Zócalo on Tuesday, […]
Lower metal prices resulted in a 15% year-on-year decline in first-quarter sales for Duisburg, Germany-based service center group Klöckner & Co. Klöckner, which has a large presence in the US, had warned of lower metals prices in its Q4 earnings report. Q1 sales still amounted to €2.08 billion million (US$2.29 billion), but earnings fell into […]
Alro Metals Outlet has opened a new retail location in northern Indiana. The new 17,500-square-foot outlet located in Elkhart, Ind., stocks a variety of carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, tool steel, copper, brass, and plastic products. Alro aims to make metal buying simple for businesses and individual customers with its outlet locations, where no minimum […]
JSW Steel USA plans to invest at least $119.4 million at its Mingo Junction, Ohio, steel plant for upgrades to enhance service to the growing renewable energy and infrastructure sectors, company, federal, state, and local officials said on Tuesday. This confirms a report from last month that the company was planning to invest ~$160 million in the […]
ArcelorMittal is expecting to soon bring two of its European blast furnaces (BFs) back online after two-month, unplanned outages. A spokesperson for the Luxembourg-based company told SMU that they anticipate the BFs, one in Spain and one in France, to be back up and running between the end of this month and the beginning of […]
Ryerson saw strong shipments on better-than-expected demand during the first quarter, but weaker prices resulted in lower earnings for the Chicago-based service center group. “Ryerson produced good operating results during a period of better-than-expected composite demand and price support,” company president and CEO Eddie Lehner said. Q1 sales of $1.4 billion increased 9.2% sequentially, driven […]
Saudi Arabian energy company Aramco, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) signed an agreement on May 1 to build a steel plate manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. The operation is expected to have a plate production capacity of up to 1.5 million tons per year, Aramco said. It will […]
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has made its first acquisition of 2023, announcing the addition of Southern Steel Supply Co. to its portfolio of service center companies. Southern Steel Supply is based in Memphis, Tenn., supplying merchant and structural steel, pipe and tube, steel plate, ornamental products, and laser-cut and fabricated parts to […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is planning a blast-furnace reline at its Burns Harbor operations in northwest Indiana in 2025, a company executive said. Discussing capital expenditures on a Q1 earnings conference call with investors on Tuesday, Cliffs EVP and CFO Celso Goncalves said the company expected cap-ex ~$700 million in 2023-24. “Now when you get to 2025 and […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has reached a tentative labor agreement with Local 1943 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) at its Middletown Works in Ohio. Pending ratification by the union, the new four-year contract will be effective on May 15 and will cover 2,100 hourly employees. “The new labor agreement with our valued […]
The prime scrap and metallic shortage in the US will continue over the next few years, according to Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive. “Our conviction that this country’s prime scrap and metallic shortage will continue to tighten over the coming years is at the core of our strategy,” Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a loss in Q1 vs. a year earlier, but the loss narrowed from the previous quarter. The Cleveland-based steelmaker posted a net loss of $57 million attributable to shareholders in the quarter ended March 31, compared with net income of $801 million in the year-earlier period on revenues that slid 11% to […]
April scrap prices have fallen from March levels on weaker market conditions, market participants told SMU. “The four-month streak of price increases from December-March finally came to an end this month with some disparate price declines across the various grades traded and geographically where the trading happened,” one scrap source told SMU. He noted that, seasonally, […]
Rig counts continue to fall in the US and Canada, according to the latest data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The total US rig count was 748 for the week ended April 14, down three rigs from the week prior. The number of active oil rigs in the US dropped by two from the prior week’s 588. The […]
The US Department of Commerce has made initial decisions in several duty circumvention cases involving pipe and tube products from Asia. The department preliminarily found affirmative instances of duty circumvention in six out of seven investigations, according to filings with the Federal Register. In all the cases, Vietnam is the country in which pipe and tube […]
Remember the forecasts about 2023 being a normal year for steel? Instead, we find ourselves in a third consecutive year of “unprecedented” volatility. But I wonder whether we’re seeing a rough redux of 2022 when it comes to sheet products. Namely, sheet prices shooting sharply higher in Q1 only to correct lower in early Q2. […]
Steel exports from the US increased 8% in February from the previous month, according to the latest US Commerce Department data. Total exports for February were 786,223 tons vs. 728,907 tons in January. This is the highest exports have been since August 2022 when they were at 800,677 tons. Canada led the way with 350,998 tons of exports. […]
Looks like the Easter Bunny left a price increase in our baskets this week. After a price increase comes through, the question is always, “But will it stick?” This week’s market chatter contributors don’t seem to think it will. Many comments over the past few weeks refer back to long-term sustainability. Eventually, foreign prices will […]
Greenwave Technology Solutions has opened a new metals recycling facility in Cleveland. The company’s newest location is on a 10-acre site on the east side of Cleveland that was previously occupied by JBI Scrap Processors. Greenwave acquired the property in February. Suffolk, Va.-based Greenwave operates multiple metal recycling facilities throughout Virginia and North Carolina through […]
ArcelorMittal is anticipating delays in shipments after recent incidents took down two of its European blast furnaces (BFs). On March 22, a serious fire totally disabled BF A at its mill in Gijón, Asturias, in northeast Spain. Then, on March 30, BF HF4 at its Dunkirk plant in northern France was idled after a similar […]
Arbor Metals Inc. and Tube Supply LP have purchased the assets of Marco Steel and Aluminum Inc., a processor of carbon, alloy, and stainless steels, aluminum, and hot-rolled steel plate with operations in the southwestern US. Arbor Metals, a division of service center Triple-S Steel, will now own and operate Marco’s assets in Lubbock, Texas, […]
Sheet prices moved slightly higher as domestic steelmakers held to previously announced price increases and as Cleveland-Cliffs rolled out another round of price hikes. Cliffs had been inching prices above $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) before the price hike was announced, some sources noted. It’s not clear whether other producers will follow Cliffs’ move. […]
Manufacturing activity in the US continued to slow during the month of March, as did general economic activity, according to the latest Manufacturing Report on Business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s monthly PMI index declined for a fifth consecutive month, registering 46.3% in March. This was 1.4 points lower than the […]