Tonnage moved across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway has risen significantly thanks to a strong showing from vessels carrying iron ore and steel. Total cargo stood at 22.8 million tons (20.7 million metric tonnes) through the end of August – the midpoint of the Great Lakes shipping season – up more than 5% from 21.7 […]
Port Houston expects to resume normal operations today after being briefly closed ahead of Hurricane Nicholas. Nicholas has since weakened into a tropical storm. But port operations were closed on Tuesday because of the storm and because of “widespread power outages,” Port Houston said on Twitter. “The safety of our team members and partners is […]
Nucor’s direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Covent, La., remains down after being pre-emptively idled ahead of Hurricane Ida last month. The reason: the storm resulted in a barge shortage on the Mississippi River, a Nucor spokeswoman said. “We are prepared to resume operations as soon as additional barges are available,” she said. The Charlotte, N.C.-based […]
NLMK USA’s operations in western Pennsylvania have secured enough liquid hydrogen (H2) to avert a shortage caused by Hurricane Ida, the company said. The steelmaker was notified after the storm ripped through the Gulf Coast earlier this month that a hydrogen supplier might not be able to meet its commitments. There were initial fears that […]
The first rule of predicting steel prices in 2021 is you don’t predict steel prices. I broke that rule last month when I called a peak. I still think I was right about that. But timing is everything. And when exactly we hit that peak remains a matter of debate. Some market participants think we’re […]
Semiconductor and related parts shortages continue to chip away at North American auto production – with Toyota alone slashing as many as 250,000 vehicles from production schedules over just three months. The list of automakers cutting back production includes other big names such as Stellantis as well as smaller automakers such as Subaru, which operates a […]
General Motors will resume production at some assembly plants next week, but is extending downtime at others into October because of the continued global chip shortage. “All of GM’s full-size truck and full-size SUV plants in North America will be running full production next week,” a company spokesman told SMU on Thursday, Sept. 9. The […]
Lobbying groups for U.S. steel mills and the United Steelworkers (USW) union want trade restraints placed on the EU to prevent potential “import surges” from the region. The call – from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) and the United Steelworkers union (USW) – comes even as the U.S. and the […]
Ryerson has acquired Specialty Metals Processing (SMP) as it looks to expand its value-added offerings and its presence in the stainless arena. Stow, Ohio-based SMP toll processes stainless steel, aluminum, titanium and nickel alloy products for specialty markets such as aerospace, Ryerson said. It also offers expertise in buffing, grinding and polishing, the Chicago-based service […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has officially rolled out the new scrap division that its top executive first mentioned at the SMU Steel Summit last week in Atlanta. The Cleveland-based steelmaker also confirmed that its CFO, Keith Koci, had been promoted to president of Cleveland-Cliffs Services, the official name of the new scrap, logistics and raw materials wing […]
Nucor plans to restart its direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Louisiana after pre-emptively idling the facility ahead of Hurricane Ida. “Our Nucor teammates and their families are safe, and the DRI plant did not sustain any major damage from the storm,” a company spokeswoman said. “We expect to resume operations in the coming days when […]
Majestic Steel USA will build a new service center, processing facility and master distribution site on the campus of Nucor Steel Arkansas. The Cleveland-based service center said the new location in Blytheville, Ark., would allow it to better serve customers in the central and southern U.S. The facility – expected to be fully operational by […]
We often talk a lot about hot-rolled coil prices in Final Thoughts. I’d like to take a deeper dive into coated prices today. It’s been an almost straight line up for an entire year for flat-rolled steel prices. And galvanized is no exception. Galvanized base prices are at $2,070 per ton ($103.50 per cwt). That’s […]
Steel mills were supposed to see increased demand this summer as automakers ramped up production after putting the chip shortage in the rear-view mirror. That might no longer be the case. And now the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating matters further. Case in point: Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. is scaling back production of the F-150 […]
Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has called off its deal with service center Grupo Villacero, according to regulatory filings in Mexico. AHMSA said it had scrapped the agreement with Alianza Minero Metalúrgica Internacional because of alleged “legal irregularities.” Alianza is a group of investors led by Grupo Villacero President Julio Villarreal, per Mexican […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) has opened its November order book for flat-rolled steel and increased prices, according to market participants. CSI did not specify whether it had increased prices. But it has quietly hiked prices in prior months along with the opening of books. The latest hike was approximately $60-80 per ton ($3-4 per cwt) […]
Ternium Mexico continues to ramp up its new hot strip mill outside of Monterrey while also eyeing potential expansions on both sides of the Rio Grande, the company’s top executive said. “We still have a lot of things to do in Mexico. But also in the States, our facility is running at 100% capacity – so we […]
Nucor has idled its Castrip® mill in Crawfordsville, Ind., and consolidated its remaining Castrip® business at its mill in Blytheville, Ark., a company spokeswoman confirmed. The Indiana mill was idled in 2020, and the Arkansas Castrip® operations “will continue to operate on a limited basis as we conclude our commitments to our customers,” she said. […]
At least two U.S. plate mills – SSAB Americas and Evraz North America – have followed Nucor in raising plate prices. SSAB has increased prices by $85 per ton (Canadian $105 per ton) for commercial, non-quenched-and-tempered (Q&T) product and by $170 per ton (C$215 per ton) for Q&T material. “These increases are to be applied to […]
Nucor might be wrapping up an approximately $4-billion expansion campaign, but it has no intentions of stopping there, the company’s top executive said. “We’re going to be a growth company. … And we’ve got the balance sheet to continue to invest,” President and CEO Leon Topalian said. Topalian declined to specify where the company might […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to expand into the scrap market – and is creating a new division for that purpose, the company’s top executive said. The scrap division – Cleveland-Cliffs Services – will be spearheaded by Keith Koci, Cliff’s chief financial officer. More details about the venture will be made available in early September, Cliffs Chairman, President and […]
Veteran metals and mining analyst Timna Tanners will join boutique investment firm Wolfe Research LLC as a managing director. Tanners gained fame and notoriety as an equity research analyst at Bank of America (BoA) for her Steelmageddon® hypothesis – which posited that the collision of older integrated capacity and new electric arc furnace (EAF) capacity would […]
Steel Market Update will not be updating sheet and plate prices during our Steel Summit conference in the week of Aug. 23. The SMU staff will be busy with the conference, and many of the usual data providers will be in attendance at the event in Atlanta. SMU will resume its weekly price updates the […]
It’s not wise to call an inflection point based on one week of data. But I’m going to do it anyway. Because while SMU might have just one week of somewhat bearish survey data, there are plenty of other data points out there to say with some confidence that we’re at or near a peak […]
Nucor – the largest steelmaker in the U.S. – in a leading move announced that it was increasing plate prices along with the opening of its October order book. The price hike is $85-165 per ton ($4.25-8.25/cwt) depending on the product. The increase – announced on Friday, Aug. 20 – marks at least the fourth consecutive month […]
Latin American steelmaker Ternium and Brazilian iron ore miner Vale have signed an agreement to work together to lower carbon emissions. Potential joint investments include an iron ore briquetting plant near Ternium Brasil, the company’s steel mill in Rio de Janeiro, and pig iron made from alternate raw materials such as biomass. “Vale is a […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB said it has produced the world’s first-fossil free steel and delivered a trial order to automaker Volvo. “It’s possible to … significantly reduce the global carbon footprint of the steel industry. We hope that this will inspire others to also want to speed up the green transition,” SSAB President and CEO Martin Lindqvist […]
Majestic Steel USA has acquired West Coast service center Merit Steel USA in a push to expand its presence in the region. The Cleveland-based service center said persistent supply chain constraints bolstered the case for growing its footprint west of the Rocky Mountains. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Merit has a strong reputation as a […]
U.S. Steel plans to take additional outages at its blast furnaces in the Midwest, the company confirmed. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker will take an approximately seven-day outage on the B furnace at its Granite City Works outside of St. Louis beginning on Oct. 1, a company spokeswoman said. And U.S. Steel will also take a roughly […]
EXLTUBE has raised prices for all A53B products by $125 per ton ($6.25 per cwt) effective immediately. “This increase is due to escalating substrate costs, transportation costs and demand,” the North Kansas City, Mo.-based pipe and tube producer said in a letter to customers Wednesday, Aug. 18. Orders on the books prior to the increase […]