Steel Dynamics is expecting lower earnings in the fourth quarter due to planned outages, lower shipments and refinancing costs. Earnings are expected to be in the range of $0.49 to $0.53 per diluted share compared to $0.69 per share in the third quarter and $1.17 per diluted share in Q4 2018. Annual maintenance outages at […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. plans to acquire Fry Steel Co., a general line and long bar distributor in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Fry Steel performs cutting services on its diverse product assortment of over 8,000 types and conditions of long bar product including stainless, alloy, aluminum, carbon, brass and bronze. The acquisition will complement […]
ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel have completed their acquisition of Essar Steel Limited. The new joint venture will be called ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AM/NS India). ArcelorMittal will hold a 60 percent share of the new entity and Nippon 40 percent. Aditya Mittal, President and CFO of ArcelorMittal, has been appointed Chairman of AM/NS India, […]
Steel consumption in China is expected to ease back to 881 Mt next year, down from the record 886 Mt anticipated this year, according to forecasts by China’s Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute. Crude steel production is projected to mirror those figures by falling to 981 Mt in 2020 from a record 988 Mt […]
Environmental damage and health issues have been a recurring theme in coverage of U.S. steel mills in the past few years. The issues, whether stemming from aging equipment or unanticipated accidents, are costing steel companies millions in repairs, penalties and lost production. U.S. Steel agreed on Dec. 4 to an $8.5 million tentative settlement in […]
Nucor’s Board of Directors has elected Leon J. Topalian as a director and John H. Walker to serve as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, both effective Jan. 1, 2020. Topalian is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nucor and will become the Chief Executive Officer of Nucor on Jan. 1, 2020. Walker, […]
Nucor announced the acquisition of another downstream company, TrueCore, a manufacturer of insulated metal panels for the cold storage market. “This acquisition fits well with our strategy to profitably grow our value-added product portfolio and provides great synergies with Nucor Buildings Group. As the market leader in metal buildings, we currently utilize a high volume […]
Changes may be coming for two joint ventures held by Brazilian mining giant Vale, including California Steel Industries. Vale is looking to trim costs as it continues to make reparations stemming from the Brumadinho tailings dam collapse that took 270 lives and caused major environmental damage to the region. At Vale Day on Dec. 2 […]
U.S. Steel is planning a 48-day outage for its #4 blast furnace at Gary Works that will begin early in the second quarter of 2020. Maintenance will include shotcrete and skip incline improvements. The seven-week outage will affect an estimated 200,000 tons of raw steel production. The idled BF #8 has been restarted to provide production […]
Nucor is expecting its earnings to decrease in the fourth quarter, according to just released guidance estimates. Earnings are expected in the range of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted share, down from third-quarter earnings of $0.90 per share. Nucor’s steel mills segment will be impacted in the fourth quarter by lower steel prices that occurred […]
The Nucor Plate Mill Group informed customers today, Dec. 10, that it has increased transaction prices on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by a minimum of $50 per ton, effective immediately. Nucor’s move follows a similar announcement by SSAB Americas on Friday. Sources tell SMU that ArcelorMittal has also followed suit, […]
Editor’s note: Steel is the largest producer of global industrial CO2 emissions. So, as stemming climate change takes on ever greater urgency, steelmakers are challenged to find production methods that emit fewer greenhouse gases. New technologies in development range from improving process efficiency to carbon capture to using hydrogen instead of coal as fuel. Following […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service This piece sets out insights gained from a visit to CRUs Beijing office. The trade war has been an unexpected headwind to China’s economy and there is a real concern about the risks of a sharper than desirable growth slowdown. In response the government […]
Samuel Associated Tube Group announced it will invest $29 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Jefferson County, Ala. Samuel Associated Tube, a division of Canada’s Samuel, Son & Co., is a manufacturer of small-diameter, electric-resistance-welded and fabricated carbon tubing. The new warehouse will total 284,000 square feet and is expected to be operational […]
Maintenance and a flooding incident have forced U.S. Steel to juggle producton on the furnaces at its Gary Works mill. Two of the three furnaces that had to be taken offline when a water pipe burst Nov. 27 are now back in operation. Blast furnaces #14 and #6 are now fully operational and #4 is […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan Smith and Senior Consultant Sarah Macnaughton, from CRU’s Crude Steel Market Outlook Climate change is moving up the political agenda and putting increasing pressure on heavy industry to reduce their CO2 emissions. As the largest producer of global industrial CO2 emissions, the steel sector has a clear role to play in meeting […]
SPS Companies and State Steel Supply Co., distributors and fabricators of steel products, will acquire the parts fabrication assets of laser process fabricator Kooima Co., located in Rock Valley, Iowa. “This new association with SPS and State will allow Kooima to continue our growth, with a primary mission of continuing to serve our customers’ needs […]
Cleveland-Cliffs and AK Steel Holdings surprised the market this morning, announcing the merger of their two companies. Under a definitive merger agreement, Cleveland-Cliffs will acquire all the issued and outstanding stock of AK Steel at $3.35 per share or $1.1 billion. Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves will lead the expanded organization and AK Steel […]
Service has been restored to the largest of the blast furnaces, and a second furnace will be back online shortly, following a water pipe break Nov. 27 that forced U.S. Steel to shut down all three operating furnaces at its Gary Works mill. In an update on Monday, a spokesperson said the third furnace is […]
Early reviews of Cleveland-Cliffs’ decision to acquire AK Steel show mixed opinions among the market observers polled by Steel Market Update. On the surface, the marriage of the producer of value-added iron ore with the long-time steelmaker, its largest customer, seems a natural fit. But merging the two, very different companies may not prove so […]
The following article is written by John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Sunday, SMU published in my Final Thoughts the following: “There has also been discussion about U.S. Steel in the marketplace as to whether the mill has decided to concentrate on auto, appliance, energy and electrical markets and perhaps move away […]
Stelco’s strategy to get into the merchant pig iron (MPI) market is getting high marks from the experts. As one of the Canadian steelmaker’s strategic growth initiatives, it plans to construct a new pig iron making facility at its Lake Erie Works to coincide with a blast furnace reline scheduled for Q2 2020. Stelco claims […]
The mills may have announced two increases in flat rolled steel prices in the past month, but you couldn’t tell from comments by members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. The distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC sector report little impact on prices so far, though demand remains healthy despite some […]
Chicago-based UPG Enterprises LLC (formerly Union Partners LLC) plans two big changes to the footprint of its Contractors Steel division, which it acquired in May 2018. UPG announced that it is consolidating Contractors Steel’s Livonia, Mich., service center into its Van Buren, Mich., facility to help streamline production and eliminate duplicate inventory. Equipment from the […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Although profitability for domestic sales in China has fallen sharply in 2019, steel exports from the country have not risen. Historically, when domestic profitability dropped, exports would rise. Prior analysis has shown that the strength of the domestic market is a key driver […]
By CRU Analysts Kevin Bai and Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Iron Ore Costs China has launched a probe into steelmaking capacity to understand the true state of the industry. If the government views the current state as detrimental to its reform agenda, orders to curb supply could be forthcoming. If enough capacity is curbed, this […]
Favorable winds are blowing for Nucor Steel in Missouri. The company will start production at its new rebar micro-mill in Sedalia, Mo., by the end of December powered by clean energy provided by Evergy Inc. Evergy has plans to build a windfarm at the Sedalia site that will offset 100 percent of the energy used […]
The first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years will be made from steel supplied by ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor. The carrier was commissioned by Interlake Steamship Company and will be built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. A ceremony celebrating the first cut of steel for the new vessel was held at […]
AK Steel Ashland rolled its final coil on Monday, Nov. 11, at 10:14 a.m. The Kentucky plant is expected to close its doors for good on Dec. 31. “Everyone was walking the line, and as we walked the line, everyone watched it,” said Brian Boggs, an electronics technician at the mill, in a comment to […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth Profitability in the steel industry is highly volatile with the last few years particularly seeing a huge swing in profits. Some producers saw margins hit ten-year highs only to see them quickly fall away, with many becoming loss-making in recent months. As steelmakers navigate the ups and downs of […]