An issue at the #3 blast furnace at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Plant at Mon Valley Works resulted in an unplanned outage on Tuesday. The furnace suffered a mechanical failure of its top charging equipment. Repairs are under way and expected to be completed in about one week, the company said. A spokesperson for U.S. […]
Congratulations to Majestic Steel USA for being honored with its 14th NorthCoast 99 Award, which ranks Majestic among the top 99 workplaces for top talent in Northeast Ohio. NorthCoast 99 winners participated in a rigorous application process that asked for detailed information on how their organization addresses top-performer attraction, development and retention in the following areas: […]
The galvanizing line at Big River Steel’s mill in Osceola, Ark., will be down from 10-14 days for repairs following an electrical failure on Sunday. The company said it will continue to meet customer needs despite the unplanned incident. Big River Steel confirms that its electrical energy provider, Entergy Arkansas, experienced a substation failure on […]
Six months of adversity was not what Leon Topalian expected when he took over the reigns of Nucor in January. But a pandemic that devastated the economy, caused demand and pricing to plummet and put the very lives of employees in jeopardy was a formidable challenge to overcome. “I’m not sure I’ve seen before in […]
ArcelorMittal Global Research and Development in East Chicago was awarded two High-Performance Computing for Manufacturing Program (HPC4Mfg) grants from the Department of Energy. The grants are part of $3.3 million in federal funding for 11 manufacturing and materials projects focused on solving technical challenges in manufacturing and materials development in the U.S. “These awards from […]
A strike at NLMK Pennsylvania turned ugly last week when a news reporter was thrown into the street by picketers while trying to take photos. While likely a one-off incident, the confrontation highlights the tension among workers trying to negotiate a contract during a time of economic uncertainty. “We understand emotions can run high on […]
California Steel Industries has appointed Shinji Tanaka as President and Chief Executive Officer. He will replace Marcelo Botelho Rodrigues who completed his four-year term on Aug. 1, 2020. Tanaka joined CSI in January 2020 as the Executive Vice President of Engineering and Continuous Improvement following a 21-year career at JFE Steel in Japan. At JFE […]
A threatened strike at NLMK Pennsylvania became reality on Saturday when United Steelworkers at the company’s Farrell, Pa., plant walked off the job over what they claim are unfair labor practices. Local 1016-3 gave NLMK management a 48-hour strike notice on Friday, Aug. 20. Months of labor negotiations between management and the union deteriorated over a proposed healthcare […]
China’s July crude steel output jumped 1.9 percent from June and 9.1 percent from a year ago to 93.36 million metric tons, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Steel demand rallied after declining during the pandemic-induced shutdowns and is now benefiting from Chinese stimulus measures that include infrastructure building and housing construction. Average daily […]
Algoma Steel has been awarded a $4 million grant to upgrade its equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The funding was provided by Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund and will be used to improve both the tar-removal and light-oil-recovery areas of its coke-making plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. This process will not only help […]
North Star BlueScope, the Ohio subsidiary of Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel Ltd., operated at over 90 percent capacity during the second half of FY 2020 despite auto demand plunging to zero during the last quarter of its fiscal year. The “ability to pivot to other end markets” kept shipment levels almost steady with the first […]
Canadian steel producer Stelco reported stronger sales in the second quarter despite market headwinds, posting revenue of $411 million. Net income was nil compared to a net profit of $1 million in Q2 2019 and a net loss of $24 million in Q1 2020. Adjusted net income was $10 million, up from $6 million a […]
ArcelorMittal announce plans to build an electric arc furnace steelmaking facility at AM/NS Calvert. When completed the facility will have the capability of producing 1.5 million metric tons of steel slabs for Calvert’s hot strip mill as well as producing a wide variety of steel grades for end-users. “An electric arc furnace at Calvert makes […]
Samuel Roll Form Group, a division of Samuel, Son & Co., is expanding operations at its Iuka, Miss., facility and adding 30 jobs. “Our team is very excited about Samuel’s investment in Iuka. The additional 67,000-square-foot process bay will accommodate a number of additional rolling mills and complementary steel fabricating equipment,” said Samuel Roll Form […]
Canadian-based Nova Tube & Steel says it will delay construction of its new pipe and tube steel plant in Delta, Ohio, until next year. The company plans to build a $70 million facility that will produce structural tubing. Construction was originally scheduled to begin on May 1 of this year, but was delayed due to […]
Commercial Metals Company, a long products producer, is adding a third micro mill that will make merchant bar quality products through a continuous production process that will utilize renewable energy. “We are excited by the tremendous promise of CMC’s third micro mill. This is a smart growth initiative that feeds the large underlying West Coast […]
Alliance Steel looks forward to hosting an open house later this month to show off its impressive new service center in Gary, Ind. No doubt the coronavirus will have a presence at the event, where Alliance personnel will pass out masks and hand sanitizer along with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Indeed, COVID has been an […]
JSW Steel plans to accelerate its plans to overhaul its U.S. facilities in Ohio and Texas. Both plants have been idled due to weak demand and pricing resulting from COVID-19 impacts. The plant in Mingo Junction, Ohio, will receive an upgrade to its 1.5-million-ton capacity electric arc furnace and is expected to restart production in […]
Olympic Steel’s Andrew Wolfort has been promoted to the role of Vice President-Specialty Metals. Joining Olympic Steel in 2007, Wolfort most recently led three of the Olympic specialty steel locations as Regional Vice-President. In his new role he will continue to lead the teams at Schaumburg, Ill., and Gary, Ind., facilities and the Berlin Metals […]
Canada’s Russel Metals, a North American metals distribution company, generated net income of $5 million on revenues of $588 million in the second quarter of 2020. Total tons shipped fell 14 percent from the first quarter. Results from U.S. operations represented 33 percent of total revenues. “During the second quarter, the pandemic along with low […]
A new Danieli spooler line is in operation at the Nucor Steel Sedalia minimill in Missouri. The spool will deliver twist-free compact and regularly shaped coils at up to 30 m/s. The high-efficiency and low-cost line is for the production of rebars and rounds in coils weighing up to five tons. The spooler line consists of […]
Olympic Steel posted a net loss of $6.5 million for the second quarter of 2020. Sales totaled $248 million, down from $429 million in Q2 2019 due to lower average selling prices and a significant decline in shipments as a result of pandemic-related shutdowns, including the automotive industry. “As the pandemic began to affect the […]
“The second quarter has been one of the most challenging quarters I can remember,” said Ternium CEO Máximo Vedoya. Steel demand fell in the second quarter with steel companies in many regions shutting down blast furnaces. Ternium operations in Brazil and Argentina were able to keep operating, albeit at reduced volumes, and increased shipments to […]
Steel Dynamics, Inc. has completed its acquisition of Zimmer, a Mexican scrap recycler, as part of its raw material procurement strategy to support the new flat rolled mill it is building in Sinton, Texas. SDI plans to begin operations at the new EAF mill in mid-2021. Zimmer is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, and operates a ferrous and […]
By CRU Senior Consultant Ibrahim Yucel, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Efforts to reshore critical supply chains and secure access to strategic materials have become a top political issue for many countries, and trade barriers are a common tool used by governments to help protect local producers of strategic materials. However, trade policy enforcements sometimes lead […]
Allegheny Technologies, Inc., posted a net loss of $422.6 million for the second quarter, but feels poised to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis stronger than ever. Revenue slipped 26 percent year-over-year to $770 million. ATI generated between $140 million and $160 million in cost reductions through efficiency measures, right-sizing workforce and reducing working capital. The […]
“Second-quarter results are a reminder of why we have to change,” said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt, during his quarterly conference. The second quarter marked the trough of a challenging year, he said, as U.S. Steel remains focused on its “best of both” strategy, which includes the acquisition of EAF mill Big River […]
ArcelorMittal is laying off 877 union and salaried workers at Indiana Harbor in addition to the 454 at ArcelorMittal Cleveland. The layoffs took effect on Saturday and will continue for the next two weeks until completed. In an amended letter to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, ArcelorMittal said, “Due to additional and unforeseen deterioration […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is getting back to normal after idling 15 facilities in three months due to the impacts of COVID-19. As of today, all facilities, including the AK Steel Dearborn furnace, are back to operation with the exception of North Shore and Tilden, which will resume next week. Idling costs of around $50 million will be […]
Metals processor and distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. recorded revenue of $772 million for the second quarter of 2020, a plunge of 35.9 percent from a year ago and 23.6 percent sequentially. Shipments fell 25.8 percent to 462,000 tons. Average selling price declined 13.6 percent to $1,671 per ton. The company reduced warehousing, delivery, general and […]