Tata Steel’s exit from the United Kingdom may be a precursor to a merger with Thyssenkrupp. Wall Street Journal reports Tata and Thyssenkrupp have been in high-level talks for more than a year about combining their European steel operations. Whether the two companies are considering a buyout or forming a joint venture is unclear at […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will sell its LaPlace and Vinton Long Carbon steel facilities to an affiliate of Black Diamond Capital Management. The LaPlace Louisiana mini-mill includes an electric arc furnace, ladle metallurgy station, two four-strand continuous billet casters, and a fifteen-stand Danieli medium section mill. The LaPlace facility, along with a rolling mill in Harriman, […]
Earlier this week Nucor Plate Group and SSAB announced price increases on plate products (with SSAB also including hot rolled coil) of $40 per ton. Over the past few months we have seen the plate mills lead the charge with sheet mills following close behind. This week was no different. Three mills announced flat rolled […]
ArcelorMittal has offered its Trinidad steel mill to the government of Trinidad & Tobago for price of $1.00, according to Ramumar Narinesingh, vice-president of The Steel Workers Union (SWUTT). The one dollar price comes with $1.3 billion of debt, however, and the question of whether it would be a good or bad investment for the […]
ArcelorMittal and the Mexican Mining and Metal Workers Union have reached an agreement to end a strike at the company’s Lazaro Cardenas steel mills. In negotiations mediated by the Labor Ministry, ArcelorMittal agreed to relocate 125 workers following the recent closure of a coke plant and pay severance to 81 others, and to extend for […]
The Great Lakes 2016 shipping season commenced on March 2 with a load of iron ore for ArcelorMittal Cleveland. The tug/barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 14,600 tons of iron ore at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal to deliver to ArcelorMittal on the Cuyahoga River. The barge was about 4,600 tons shy of a full load due to […]
Steelworkers at ArcelorMittal in Trinidad and Tobago were fired one day after winning a wage dispute in the Industrial Court. ArcelorMittal said it is closing the Point Lisas plant and workers would receive one-month’s salary and payment for any unused vacation time. In November 2015, 480 workers were laid off for six weeks and then […]
Mill lead times, especially on cold rolled and coated products, continue to be a concern as buyers navigate/negotiate pricing and deliveries on future orders. The longer the lead time the more steel that is needed in the pipeline at both manufacturing companies and distributors. The longer lead times provide ammunition to the domestic steel mills […]
The following is a reprint of an article by Dr. Mark J. Perry in response to the Wall Street Journal article about the duties imposed on imports of cold-rolled steel from China that SMU publisher John Packard was quoted in. Dr. Perry is a Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute and Professor of Finance and […]
More than 3,000 workers at ArcelorMittal steel mill Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan, Mexico went on what has been classified as an illegal strike on March 4 to protest job cuts and idled operations. Workers marched in a protest rally and placed red and black flags at the doors of the steel company to announce the […]
A quick note to our Premium level and free trial subscribers: We have just published the results from this week’s flat rolled steel market trends analysis (survey) on our website. It is available to you once you have signed into the www.SteelMarketUpdate.com website. The power point presentation can be found under the analysis tab. A […]
There has been some confusion in the marketplace as many mills were waiting for Nucor and SDI to come out with new price announcements after SSAB and ArcelorMittal led the way earlier this week. On Tuesday, NLMK USA representatives began verbally informing their customers that their spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized […]
Reaction to the US Department of Commerce (DOC) preliminary duties on cold-rolled steel has been mixed, depending on what side of the antidumping determination the commentators are on. In the UK, the steel sector is readying itself for further onslaught of Chinese exports while its own steel exports to the U.S. are assigned dumping margins […]
Spot flat rolled steel prices were adjusted higher by Steel Market Update based on the data being collected out of our ongoing flat rolled steel survey as well as through direct contact with steel buyers. We found a tight cluster of hot rolled offers in the $400 to $410 range. Our average increased due to […]
SSAB, which is known primarily as a plate supplier, announced a $30 per ton price increase on plate and hot rolled coil in the United States and a $40 per ton price increase on hot rolled. The SSAB increases were sent via an emailed letter to their customers. The letter began, “Please be advised that […]
Steel prices continued their three month hike higher as SMU benchmark hot rolled price index (average) for the month was $408 per ton. Even with some minor stumbles noted in hot rolled and cold rolled during the second half of the month, our Price Momentum Indicator is still pointing toward higher prices over the next […]
Happy Academy Award (Oscar) Night… We will begin our early March flat rolled steel market trend analysis on Monday morning. If you receive an invitation to participate please take a few moments to click on the button contained in the message which will take you to our questionnaire. If you would like to participate in […]
The USW negotiating committee for ArcelorMittal posted a passionate 25th update to the USW website on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The committee called ArcelorMittal “hell bent” on ignoring the real issues and insisting on health care and contract demands on “principle” than on true cost savings. The committee and management have been in negotiations for a […]
ArcelorMittal USA has closed the aluminizing line at Indiana Harbor West. Workers have been transferred to a galvanizing line that restarted after being idled near the end of 2014. The closing has been in the works for more than a year and was actually expected in December. ArcelorMittal has been in talks with the USW […]
ArcelorMittal may be closing some finishing lines at Indiana Harbor according to comments by USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap. Millsap said in an interview in the NWI Times that several lines may be closed, mostly in the East Chicago facility, with others receiving major investments to improve efficiency. By running fewer operations around the […]
There seems to be little doubt that there is some strength in the cold rolled and coated products markets. The lead times are extended with ArcelorMittal being into May on galvanized according to one of their automotive service centers. We heard from a couple of the conversion mills who told us their orders books were […]
During their earnings conference call with the financial analysts, ArcelorMittal spoke about excess Chinese steelmaking capacity which needs to be removed from the markets as well as demand outlook which they believe will improve in the United States and Europe during 2016. The following selected comments were taken directly from the ArcelorMittal conference call transcript […]
Contract negotiations continue at ArcelorMittal without any progress reported. In the latest update to union members, the USW said it had made proposals in late January to the company that would “save the company millions of dollars in liability and legacy costs over the course of the contract.” The USW says it has addressed the […]
Contract negotiations are continuing at Cliffs Natural Resources but still moving slowing according to an update to members by the USW. Negotiators returned to the bargaining table last week and said progress had been made on health care issues for active and retired workers. The negotiating teams will take a short break and return to […]
USW members outside ArcelorMittal headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday were granted an unexpected interview with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal spoke with union members outside asking why they were rallying. Union leaders were invited in for coffee and a brief discussion with Mittal and ArcelorMittal Americas CEO Lou Schorsch. Union leaders told […]
We are seeing a divergence in the normal spread between hot rolled lead times and those of cold rolled and coated products. Normally, we would see HRC lead times at just a couple of weeks less than that of the other “higher value” products. With the demise of the energy segment of the industry that […]
Yesterday (Monday, January 25th) I visited the AHR Expo (ASHRAE for us old timers) in Orlando. I had not attended one of these shows for probably six years or more. This show used to be a mandatory visit for me when I was a salesman peddling galvanized steel. I remember when the Carrier Corporations, York-Borg […]
The vast majority of the respondents to our latest flat rolled steel market analysis believe that the domestic steel mills will be able to collect “some” of the latest round of price increases which range from $20 to $30 per ton. In our latest assessment of the flat rolled market, we asked whether the domestic […]
USW and ArcelorMittal negotiations resumed last week with hope of a possible compromise after a tentative contract was reached at US Steel. According to the latest information update from the USW, an impasse between the parties still continues concerning retiree benefits and contract language that could affect future labor agreements. “While ArcelorMittal has dropped its […]
On Tuesday evening ArcelorMittal advised their customers of their intention to raise carbon flat rolled sheet prices. In an email to their customers the mill advised that they would be raising prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume). The mill told their customers: “Effective immediately with all new quotations, ArcelorMittal […]