Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel (WISCO), the fifth and eleventh largest steel manufacturers in the world, are merging to form a new entity, China Baowu Iron and Steel Group. The combination of assets will give the new company an estimated 60 million tons of capacity, placing it as second largest producer behind ArcelorMittal. Both […]
Friday, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping investigations of imports of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey. CTL plate is a flat-rolled carbon and alloy steel product that is 4.75 mm or more in thickness and that has a defined […]
Over the past few weeks the pace of the flat rolled spot price decline has quickened and many buyers believe benchmark hot rolled coil prices are poised to drop below $500 per ton for the first time since mid-April 2015. Or, are they? At this moment, SMU has our HRC index average at $525 per […]
US Steel President and CEO Mario Longhi said he is encouraged by the affirmative determinations in the recent AD/CVD investigations of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and corrosion resistant steels. Said Longhi in a statement released following the ITC determination on hot-rolled steel: “It is clear that the International Trade Commission recognized the significance of this case to […]
Much has been made about the number of shutdowns there will be at various steel mills due to planned maintenance outages. Steel Market Update has been working with a number of our buyer sources to come up with a tentative schedule of the various projects due in the 4th Quarter 2016. This is our “best […]
We don’t think the domestic steel mills would have envisioned winning virtually all of their antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) suits and still have foreign steel imports at, or above, 3 million net tons per month. Unfortunately for the domestic mills that is the reality that is sinking into the market (and probably a […]
The Department of Commerce announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation of cut-to-length steel plate from China but a negative determination in the CVD investigation of imports of CTL plate from Korea. Exporter and producers in the China investigation received subsidy rates of 210.5 percent based on available adverse facts (they did […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Final Census data for July foreign steel imports. July imports surprised to the upside at 3,266,049 net tons. At the same time, based on data through the 2nd of September, August imports are trending toward another 3.0 million net ton month. Both July and August saw a surge in […]
Essar Steel Minnesota has requested an investigation of Cliffs Natural Resources for violation of antitrust laws. Lawyers for the company filed a motion in bankruptcy court claiming that Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves interfered with state mineral leases and contract negotiations with ArcelorMittal in an effort to thwart the completion of Essar’s iron ore plant. The […]
There were some surprises on Friday afternoon when the U.S. Department of Commerce came out with their final determinations regarding antidumping and countervailing duties on hot rolled steel. Perhaps the biggest surprise was saved for POSCO out of Korea and the joint venture partner with US Steel on USS/POSCO mill in California. The UPI mill […]
ArcelorMittal posted net income of $1.1 billion second quarter 2016 compared to a net loss of $400 million in first quarter. Second quarter EBITDA nearly doubled from first quarter due to higher steel selling prices and volumes. Crude steel production was 13.1 million tonnes with shipments of 22.1 million tonnes. Sales increased to $14.7 billion […]
Cliffs Natural Resources recorded another successful quarter with net income of $30 million for continuing operations compared to a net loss of $38 million in Q2 2015. Adjusted EBITDA was $102 million, driven by higher domestic steel prices. EBITDA included idle expenses of $20 million for the Northshore and United Taconite mines. US iron ore […]
ArcelorMittal North America will be led by a new chief executive officer, Robrecht Himpe, effective July 1, 2016. Himpe will continue to serve as executive vice president of ArcelorMittal and CEO of AM/NS Calvert. He will be based in Calvert, Alabama and provide leadership for both organizations. “ArcelorMittal North American organization will continue to focus […]
Essar Steel Minnesota has named a new CEO to take the company through it restructuring process. The company, which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 8, has selected Matthew Stock to replace Mandhu Vuppuluri as CEO, effective immediately. Stock has 25 years of experience in the steel and metals mining business including leading efforts […]
Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp confirmed they are in talks about consolidating their European steel businesses. Tata Steel is currently in the process of selling its UK assets but said on Friday that it will also “look at alternative and more sustainable portfolio solutions for the European businesses.” Tata said it has been reviewing bids from […]
Essar Steel Minnesota entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday after the state of Minnesota revoked the company’s mining leases. Essar Steel Minnesota was given an extension to July 1 after missing a May 1 deadline to pay off its creditors and prove it could finance a plan to complete its promised taconite operation. Essar […]
ArcelorMittal has made a joint bid with Marcegaglia SpA to purchase Italian steel plant Ilva. In an announcement on June 30, the consortium outlined their plans to bring the troubled mill up to environmental standards and increase production. If successful in it its bid, ArcelorMittal plans to return the three blast furnaces at the plant […]
Andre Marshall stated in his “futures” article this evening that perhaps the market is a little too negative. The purpose of looking at the month of June in its totality is to provide another way to look at what just happened over the past month as you prepare for the next one. SMU Price Momentum […]
Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group (Wisco) are contemplating a merger that would unseat Hebei Iron and Steel Group as China’s largest domestic producer and rival European steelmaker ArcelorMittal. A merger of China’s second largest steelmaker Baosteel with fifth ranked Wisco would create a combined output of approximately 70 million tonnes. The merger would […]
Leaders in the steel industry reacted favorably to Friday’s affirmative decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC)’s regarding injury to the industry resulting from the import of corrosion-resistant steel from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan. Mario Longhi, President and CEO, US Steel Corp.: “United States Steel Corporation is pleased with the International Trade Commission’s […]
Both Platts and Steel Market Update saw flat rolled steel prices as dropping this past week. The question now is this the beginning of a correction or just a bump in the road? From the perspective of ArcelorMittal USA and NLMK USA this is just a bump. If the drop in steel prices continue this […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced today (June 22, 2016) that it finds that unfairly priced and subsidized imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from China and Japan have hurt U.S. steel producers. All six commissioners voted in the affirmative. As a result, the antidumping and countervailing duties determined by the DOC in their […]
USW members overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with ArcelorMittal today (June 23). The new agreement covers nearly 14,000 union-represented hourly production, maintenance, and technical workers at the company’s 15 locations through Sept. 1, 2018. “We have settled our differences with management at the table, so together now we can focus on addressing the industry’s real […]
The reaction to the latest round of price increase announcements out of ArcelorMittal USA and NLMK USA got one of our readers fired up. After reading Tuesday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update they penned their thoughts on price increases and imports, especially imports out of the “2nd tier guys”: I just finished reading last […]
Today two mills began advising their customers of their intention to raise flat rolled steel prices. ArcelorMittal USA and NLMK USA both came out with increases. ArcelorMittal provided specific base price “minimums” while NLMK USA advised their customers of a flat $30 per ton increase. If all of the other mills follow, this would be […]
Flat rolled steel prices slipped this week even as ArcelorMittal USA announced new spot pricing for the month of August. Steel Market Update (SMU) has been noticing a “topping” of the market over the past few weeks and our expectation is for the market to be a little “sloppy” in the coming weeks. We do […]
Two steel mills announced price increases today. This is the beginning of the 6th round of increases since the first announcement in early December 2015. However, unlike past announcements this one just doesn’t “feel” the same. We are not seeing a rush to buy (unless it was a special deal at much less than the […]
ArcelorMittal is set to expand its portfolio of automotive steels by launching two new products in 2017, Usibor®2000 and Ductibor®1000. According to a spokesperson at ArcelorMittal , Usibor® 2000, which has been under development for some time, is a new Aluminum-Silicon coated high strength steel that will be even stronger than its predecessor Usibor® 1500. […]
Cliffs Natural Resources’ supply agreement with ArcelorMittal “put the final nail in the coffin of Essar Steel Minnesota.” That is the opinion of Star Tribune columnist, Lee Schafer. Schafer has a point, with Cliffs gobbling up Northern steel mill contracts, Essar will have no customers even if it is able to pull itself out of […]
For many years, SMU publisher John Packard sold ultra light gauge galvanized steels (.019”-.010”) into the furnace pipe manufacturers across the United States and Canada. This product is one that is not championed by the domestic steel industry as the domestic steel mills would rather run thicker steels (more tonnage per hour through their mills) […]