U.S. Steel is bullish on the automotive market and believes it is well positioned to continue gaining market share in that important steel-consuming sector. Auto OEMs desire to have their advanced high-strength (AHSS) and automotive-grade steels produced more sustainably, said Kevin Lewis, U.S. Steel’s VP of finance, speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call […]
US plate producers are seeking to have the suspension agreement on Russian plate imports tossed and to be replaced with antidumping duties (AD). Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and SSAB have asked the US Department of Commerce to terminate the AD suspension agreement on carbon steel plate from Russia. The producers say that the agreement is no longer […]
Mexico is benefiting from the trend of the reshoring of manufacturing as companies work to secure reliable supply chains and be closer to their end markets. As a result, Ternium’s Mexican operations are seeing increasing shipments and market share. Company executives discussed this and other topics on the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, […]
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 […]
Despite high interest rates dampening demand, strength in manufacturing across the globe will drive a rebound in steel demand this year, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its April 2023 Short Range Outlook. “In 2022, recovery momentum after the pandemic shock was hampered by high inflation and increasing interest rates, the Russian invasion of […]
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 […]
Russian mining and steel company Metalloinvest has been added to the US sanctions list. On April 12, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed the sanctions targeting the vast holdings of one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, including Moscow-based Metalloinvest and its parent company USM Holdings. The measures are meant […]
An upgrade to JSW Steel USA’s mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, is reportedly in the works. The company has proposed a $160 million investment for the mill, according to Samir Kapadia, principal at Vogel Group and lobbyist for JSW in Washington. Kapadia recently met with Parth Jindal, heir of India’s JSW Steel (of which JSW […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. this week provided an early look into its first-quarter earnings – which the company will disclose in full detail on April 23. Q1 steel shipments, revenues, and adjusted EBITDA are all expected to be higher than the prior quarter, the steelmaker said in a news release. At the same time, despite higher shipments, […]
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, […]
Good news for automotive steel demand: Two of the Big Three US automakers reported strong sales growth in the first quarter of the year. Sales were higher for both Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., while FCA US, the North American automaker subsidiary of Stellantis, saw lower Q1 sales. Ford Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford’s Q1 […]
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 […]
A coalition of trade groups is urging President Joe Biden to help with the ongoing West Coast port labor negotiations. Negotiations for a long-term labor agreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have been ongoing for more than 10 months […]
Canadian flat rolled producer Algoma Steel Inc. said its performance in the quarter ended March 31 would be much improved over the prior quarter thanks to attractive market conditions and steel prices that were at a nine-month high. In earnings guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter, Algoma said it anticipates quarterly steel shipments to be in […]
Teck Resources is now producing zinc with a low-carbon footprint. A new report independently reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the extremely low-carbon footprint of refined zinc from Teck’s Trail Operations in British Columbia, Canada. The report shows that Trail Operations’ zinc generates far less CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per ton than the global average: 0.93 metric […]
Nucor’s new plate mill in Brandenburg, Ky., reached another milestone earlier this month with the casting of its first slab on its new continuous caster. The SMS group, supplier of the single-strand caster, announced the milestone was reached on March 8. The caster, one of the largest in the world with an annual production capacity […]
A research team at the Missouri University of Science and Technology will be using a $2 million government grant to improve the operating efficiency of electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. The Missouri S&T research team is being led by Dr. Ronald O’Malley, the F. Kenneth Iverson Endowed Chair of Steelmaking Technologies and director of the Kent D. […]
The outlook for the construction industry is relatively optimistic, despite the uncertain state of the overall economy, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Simonson, who chatted with SMU chief editor Michael Cowden on the March 22 SMU Community Chat, provided the most recent data covering many aspects […]
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and acquisition of Credit Suisse are unlikely to cause severe financial disturbance on the scale of the global financial crisis (GFC). However, these events further amplify the probability of recession in the US and Europe, and they have certainly got the market talking about whether a new GFC […]
General Motors is temporarily idling production at one of its plants in order to adjust production schedules to fit customers’ needs. While the automaker’s production has increased over the past month, automotive demand has been remaining consistent, thus leading to an increase in inventories, a GM spokesman told SMU. As a result, GM has decided […]
It’s not always easy to be a market disruptor, but when done right, it’s worth it. Reibus International is one of those companies hoping to bring change, increased efficiencies, and new ways of doing business to an older industry steeped in tradition. SMU sat down this week with John Armstrong, the founder and CEO of […]
It’s not always easy to be a market disruptor, but when done right, it’s worth it. Reibus International is one of those companies hoping to bring change, increased efficiencies, and new ways of doing business to an older industry steeped in tradition. SMU sat down this week with John Armstrong, the founder and CEO of […]
Citing rising raw material costs and strong demand, Nucor Tubular Products has announced its fourth price increase so far this year. The tubular producer said in a March 17 letter to customers that new orders for hollow structural sections (HSS), pipe, mechanical, and piling products will increase by $150 per ton, effective immediately. Earlier, on […]
Manufacturing business activity continues to decline in the state of New York, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey taken between March 2–9. The New York Fed’s Empire state headline general business conditions index—a gauge of manufacturing activity in the state—declined by 19 points to -24.6, with 45% of respondents reporting worsening business conditions […]
Despite strong profitability within its different product segments, Nucor Corp. expects first-quarter earnings to be down both sequentially and year on year. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said Q1 operating income should be higher than the previous quarter while net earnings will be lower. This is due to higher state tax benefits seen in Q4 as […]
Despite a record backlog, Northwest Pipe Co. is experiencing a challenging start to the year, with customer-driven delays and severe weather hampering production at its various facilities. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company noted the challenges as it released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results. Q4 brought higher production tonnages but lower selling prices within Northwest’s engineered steel […]
Evraz North America is joining other steelmakers in raising prices for steel plate. All new orders for carbon, high-strength low-alloy, hot-rolled coils, normalized, and quenched-and-tempered products will immediately increase by a minimum of $60 per ton ($3 per cwt), the Chicago-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers. “We reserve the right to re-quote any […]
The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has updated antidumping (AD) duties on cut-to-length plate from Belgium and welded standard pipe from Turkey, according to documents in the US government’s Federal Register. CTL Plate from Belgium The ITA recently finalized an administrative review of the AD duties on CTL plate from Industeel Belgium […]