Contributor: Ethan Bernard

SMU’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both declined this week, based on our most recent survey data.

Worthington Industries said on Thursday its board of directors has approved the previously announced separation of its Steel Processing business, Worthington Steel Inc.

The percentage of steel buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing fell for hot rolled this week, while plate's negotiation rate shot up, according to SMU's most recent survey data.

The leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) warned that members on the East and Gulf Coasts could go on strike in October of next year when the union’s contract expires.

Canadian metals distributor Russel Metals reported lower earnings in the third quarter as the company “navigated through volatile market conditions.”

United Auto Workers (UAW) members at auto parts supplier Mobis North America in Toledo, Ohio, have authorized leaders to call a strike when their contract expires next week, according to a UAW post on X.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) scrap subsidiary OmniSource has acquired a 55-acre rail-served tract near the Port of Houston to expand its metal recycling operations along the Gulf Coast.

U.S. Steel said it is laying off 105 IT workers in Pittsburgh, according to a November WARN notice filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Olympic Steel’s earnings edged up in the third quarter vs. a year earlier, though sales declined due to lower metal pricing, the Cleveland-based metals service center said.

A large Detroit-area scrap buyer has settled scrap prices for November, with busheling, shredded, and plate and structurals (P&S) all notching gains vs. October, a scrap source told SMU.

Klöckner & Co. said it has agreed to acquire South Carolina-based fabricator Industrial Manufacturing Services (IMS) through US subsidiary Kloeckner Metals Corp.(KMC).

Klöckner & Co. posted a narrower net loss in the third quarter as the Duisburg, Germany-based service center group touted the expansion of its North American footprint.

The “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers' tentative labor agreements are set to expire on April 30, 2028, six months longer than the normal four-year agreements.

U.S. Steel said it has converted two of its diesel switcher locomotives to “state-of-the-art battery-operated locomotives.”

The United Auto Workers (UAW) reached a tentative agreement with General Motors on Monday. If all tentative deals on the table are ratified, this could signal the end of the "stand-up strike."

Canadian union Unifor has reached a tentative agreement with automaker Stellantis, ending the strike at all member-represented facilities.

General Motors has reached a tentative labor agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, according to an article in Bloomberg.

The first rule of Steel 101 is that you’re free to talk about Steel 101. We actually encourage it. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

The active rig count for the week ended Oct. 27 inched up in the US but edged down in Canada, according to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes.

SMU’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both increased this week, based on our most recent survey data. Every other week we poll steel buyers about sentiment. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s chances of success in the current market, as well as three to six months down the road. We have historical data going back to 2008. Check our interactive graphing tool here.

Steel buyers said mills are less willing to budge on spot pricing for sheet products, but plate bucked this trend, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.

After a meeting Friday at the White House, the EU and US issued a joint statement noting no concrete movement towards a Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum.

Nucor Steel held a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday for its Nucor Steel West Virginia sheet mill in Mason County, W.Va.

United Auto Workers (UAW) members ratified a labor deal at ZF Chassis Systems in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Thursday, ending a nearly month-long strike.

Canada’s Unifor, which represents union-represented auto workers there, has opened negotiations with automaker Stellantis.

Cleveland-Cliffs said on Thursday it's targeting a minimum base price for hot-rolled steel of $800 per net ton ($40 per cwt).

Subcontractors for U.S. Steel in Indiana stole ~20 million pounds of scrap valued at ~$2 million over a two-year period.

River Metals Recycling (RMR), a subsidiary of Nucor, has acquired all the Cincinnati-based assets of Garden Street Iron & Metal.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices widened slightly this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

Azz Inc. swung to a profit in its fiscal second quarter of 2024 as its metal coatings business was lifted by infrastructure spending.