“Transformational” is what Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves called the acquisition of AK Steel in remarks during the Q4 2019 earnings call Thursday. “With the acquisition of AK Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs becomes the most relevant supplier of steel to the automotive industry in the United States, fully integrated from iron ore in the ground to auto parts […]
Today, we are rolling out more of our agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. STEEL: DEALING WITH THE VELOCITY OF CHANGE AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS Monday, August 24, 2020 10:00 – 5:30 Conference RegistrationGeorgia International Convention Center- South Lobby 10:00 – 10:50 CME Hedging Workshop 11:10 – […]
Today, we are rolling out more of our agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. STEEL: DEALING WITH THE VELOCITY OF CHANGE AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS Monday, August 24, 2020 10:00 – 5:30 Conference RegistrationGeorgia International Convention Center- South Lobby 10:00 – 10:50 CME Hedging Workshop 11:10 – […]
The Super Bowl is done, the Grammys are behind us, the Oscars selected a foreign film (Parasite from South Korea) for the first time as Best Movie. The Iowa caucus presented more questions than answers. Today is the New Hampshire primary and the first votes finally are being cast to see who the Democrats will […]
A fire at the AK Steel Mansfield facility reportedly caused serious burns to a female employee who was working near the ladle in the melt shop. Mansfield Fire Department received a call at 5:12 pm regarding an explosion and fire at the plant. By the time firefighters arrived the fire was under control by AK […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, Principal Economist Lisa Morrison, Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Iron Ore Market Outlook In a recent insight series, CRU highlighted some of the challenges facing the three U.S. iron ore producers, Cleveland-Cliffs, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. The location of the mines and pellet plants […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has begun exchanging senior notes issued by AK Steel for notes issued by Cliffs in preparation for the acquisition of the Ohio-based steel company. “For each $1,000 principal amount of Existing AK Steel Notes validly tendered on Feb. 12, 2020 (the ‘Expiration Date’) and not validly withdrawn, Eligible Holders of Existing AK Steel Notes […]
Welcome back from the Christmas Holidays. This is the 149th Executive level issue of Steel Market Update produced during calendar year 2019. It is also anticipated to be the last Executive issue prior to the New Year. On Monday we will publish our last Premium issue of the year, our 49th for 2019. Christmas and […]
Registration for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference is now open. You can register through our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit or through the CRU website. 2020 Conference Dates: Monday, Aug. 24-Wednesday, Aug. 26 Location: Georgia International Convention Center (www.gicc.com) same location as 2019. Cost: $1,375 per person (same as 2019) with $100 per person discounts for SMU/CRU […]
Affirming that steel imports from Vietnam have been circumventing U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties, the Department of Commerce on Monday upheld its preliminary AD/CVD rates on imports of galvanized and cold rolled sheet from Vietnam manufactured with hot- or cold-rolled substrate from Korea and Taiwan. Steel products produced in Korea and Taiwan, shipped to Vietnam […]
After declining for much of 2019, steel prices have moved up substantially in the last two months. Will the trend continue into 2020? Flat rolled steel producers raised prices three times during October and November for a total of $110 per ton. (Editor’s note: ArcelorMittal USA announced an additional $40 flat rolled increase on Friday. […]
New rounds of flat rolled price increases began on Friday with ArcelorMittal USA and NLMK USA taking the lead at $40 per ton. My expectation is the other mills will follow on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Watch lead times – with some of the mills they are beginning to stretch. Steel Dynamics has […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Did everybody buckle up on your way to work on Monday morning? Boy, what a week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday! For those of you who are not aware of the events of the past few days, I will do a quick recap. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, U.S. Steel had a large water […]
Ferrous scrap prices settled up $30-40/GT in December for most regions and most grades, on top of the $15-20/GT increase in November, lending further support to rising finished steel prices. Not only did prices find support from seasonally tighter scrap supply, but mill demand was stable or higher month over month for most regions, said […]
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 […]
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 […]
AK Steel Chief Financial Officer Jaime Vasquez will retire from the company effective Nov. 30, 2019. Christopher Ross, current AK Steel Vice President and Treasurer, has been named interim CFO and Treasurer, effective Nov. 5. “Jaime’s experience and financial focus have served the company well as we forged a new strategic path,” said CEO Roger […]
AK Steel eked out a net income of $2.8 million in the third quarter, down from $66.8 million in Q2 and $67.2 million in Q3 2018. Included in net income was a $15.3 million mark-to-market loss from iron ore derivatives. Net sales of $1.5 billion fell 12 percent year-over-year and 9 percent from the second […]
Four U.S. railroad companies have been accused of price-fixing by more than two dozen companies including steel producers AK Steel and North Star Bluescope. On Sept. 30, more than two dozen lawsuits were filed against BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific claiming the rail carriers conspired to set rate-based fuel surcharges that increased rates […]
JSW USA has filed a challenge to a tariff exclusion denial with the U.S. Court of International Trade. In the first tariff exclusion case to reach the USCIT, JSW claims that Commerce ignored evidence presented regarding the domestic availability of steel slab. The company is requesting a refund of the tariffs it was required to pay. […]
With U.S. Steel buying almost 50 percent of Big River Steel and holding an option on the remainder over the next four years, SMU thought it an appropriate time to review the list of announced changes being made by the mills in the United States, Canada and Mexico. We reviewed this listing with the four […]
EVRAZ NA President “Skip” Herald is the newest addition to the American Iron and Steel Institute Board of Directors. “Skip Herald has had an impressive career, and I am excited to welcome him to the AISI Board of Directors,” said AISI Chairman and AK Steel CEO Roger Newport. “Skip’s wealth of experience will be an […]
Members of the United Auto Workers at AK Steel Coshocton Works ratified a new 46-month labor agreement on Sept. 20. The agreement covers approximately 300 hourly production workers and maintenance employees at the facility and will be effective until July 31, 2023. “We appreciate the work of the Union leadership with our management team to […]
I received numerous notes regarding a hot strip mill outage at AMNS Calvert, which began last week. Based on reports from steel buyers, the HSM outage was expected to last for about one week. We asked ArcelorMittal for information and confirmation yesterday, but they failed to respond. Today, we received information that the Calvert lead […]
By CRU Analyst Ryan Smith Operating costs for flat-rolled minimill producers have dropped in 2019 as weaker steel markets have pulled down metallics prices. This has meant that operating costs for minimills are now in line with integrated producers in the USA. However, the current cost level is not expected to be maintained. (See related […]
A number of maintenance outages are scheduled at U.S. steel mills in the coming months with the majority to occur in October. Blast furnaces at AK Steel Dearborn, ArcelorMittal Cleveland and Burns Harbor, and U.S. Steel Gary Works are scheduled for maintenance in October, representing an estimated 495,050 tons of steel capacity temporarily removed from the […]