ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) sent a letter to Calvert customers on Thursday assuring them of a seamless transition for the Alabama facility. The existing Calvert sales team will be integrated into the ArcelorMittal USA sales and marketing organization. Customers will be able to work with their current customer representative while […]
A stronger performance is expected in all end-markets for 2014 said Reliance Steel & Aluminum in the company’s recent conference call. The following are some comments by Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board David Hannah and Gregg Mollins, President and Chief Operating Officer on the steel market and industry. Regarding pricing Gregg Mollins […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly galvanized steel conference call with the HARDI wholesalers, manufacturing companies and service centers associated with the HVAC related organization. The wholesalers in the Upper Midwest, East Coast and as far west as Wichita, Kansas reported having lost 5-6 days of shipments due to inclement weather in their […]
On Monday, Steel Market Update revised our SMU Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower. The adjustment means we anticipate flat rolled steel prices will move lower over the next 30 to 60 days. At the time of the change, SMU benchmark hot rolled coil was published at $660 per ton. The last adjustment to […]
For those of you watching the weather you may be aware that Atlanta is suffering through another winter weather event. Since our offices are located north of Atlanta that means we are suffering as well. The good news for me personally is I decided to spend a few days in Florida after attending the Port […]
The acquisition of the ThyssenKrupp Calvert, Alabama mill by joint partners ArcelorMittal and NSSMC is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014. The company has received Department of Justice anti-trust approval and is waiting for other regulatory approvals to clear. ArcelorMittal is prohibited from looking at the customer mix and order book until […]
Steel analyst Charles Bradford of Bradford Research spoke at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference this past week. He presented a relatively upbeat analysis of the domestic steel industry. He began by referring to a recent McKinsey and Company report which basically said, “The steel industry has had it, it’s over. The industry doesn’t make […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will spend $87 million over the next five years to upgrade the #2 and 3 coke batteries at its Dofasco mill. The repairs will help “improve the efficiency of our production and improve our environmental performance as well,” said company spokesman Tony Valeri, according to a report by The Spec. The company […]
ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Americas had sales of $4.9 billion in fourth quarter 2013, just slightly below sales for third quarter and up from $4.68 billion in Q4 2012. Crude steel production declined by 1.4 percent to 6.3 million tonnes q/q due to operational issues in Brazil and maintenance for Canadian operations. Steel shipments of 5.6 […]
One of the interesting tidbits that came out of the ArcelorMittal conference call last week was their intention of taking down the #7 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor for two months beginning in May. They also discussed the purchase of ThyssenKrupp which they feel will be completed by the end of March (end of 1st […]
I want to take a moment to thank Mark Bush, General Manager Mobile Operations for SSAB Americas as well as Brent Major of SSAB Americas for their hospitality during our tour of the SSAB Mobile steel facilities as part of our most recent Steel 101 workshop. Our group was impressed with the steelmaking as well […]
Imports of total flat rolled products increased in January to 990,803 tons from 852,840 in December. Total long products increased from 412,848 to 552,093 tons. Total sheet products as a sub set of flat rolled increased from 677,510 to 775,337 tons. Semi finished declined from 604,558 to 532.813 tons. An analysis of the 3 month […]
Severstal North America announced the appointment of Dr. Prabhat (PK) Rastogi to General Manager, Business Development, Strategy and Innovation. Dr. Rastogi will be responsible for business development, market strategies, production innovation and value creation in connection with Severstal’s automotive product. “PK brings the knowledge, skills and innovative strategies our company and industry needs right now,” […]
ArcelorMittal received anti-trust clearance on Wednesday, clearing a hurdle to the acquisition of the ThyssenKrupp Alabama facility. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Acquisition Improvements Act (HSR) terminated on Jan. 29 providing clearance for the acquisition. Following receipt of other customary regulatory approvals, the joint purchase by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal […]
Steel buyers reported a mixed bag this week with some mills quoting extremely long lead times (hot rolled at 6-8 weeks) while others were still willing to discuss pricing in early February if a reasonable order was connected to the competitive quotation. One service center executive told us about mill lead times, “USS is in […]
Essar officials are working to find additional financing for the $1.7 billion Essar Steel Minnesota taconite plant under construction in Nashwauk, Minn. Construction of the plant has slowed with workers on the job reduced by more than half, down from an average of 150-200 to 74, according to reports by the Duluth News Tribune. The […]
Our company continues to extend our coverage around the country. John Temples has opened an office for us in Michigan. We now have offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and the Atlanta area along with our newest office in Lansing, Michigan. I will be traveling later this week as I am speaking to the AWMI Chicago […]
We will publish our next Premium Level Supplement Newsletter on Monday of next week. The supplement will contain currency data and information derived from this week’s steel market survey. We will also publish our Premium Level Power Point of the survey results for our Premium Level members either late on Friday or over the weekend. […]
On Wednesday, January 2, 2014, ArcelorMittal Dofasco out of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada advised their customers through the use of an internal memo that their flat rolled steel prices would change. The company noted the changes were being made, “Due to recent changes in the exchange rates and market conditions for Flat Rolled products…” The company […]
Happy New Year to our members and those viewing our steel industry newsletter for the first time. We wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. We are quite bullish on the North American flat rolled steel industry for the first six months of 2014. Not every segment is clicking on all cylinders – […]
Flat rolled steel prices remained range bound over the past few days due to the Holidays and most buyers being out of the office. At the same time, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA have all come out with new base price guidance for new orders. The expectation from most buyers is for […]
With the announcements by NLMK USA, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA on Monday, it is quite clear that the flat rolled steel mills are marching to the same drummer when it comes to carbon sheet pricing. All of the announcements made on Monday reflected the same base price levels: Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 per ton) […]
Worthington Industries reported a strong second quarter (ending November 30, 2013) for fiscal year 2014. Sales were $769.9 million, up 24 percent from the previous quarter due to an overall increase in volume. The steel segment was especially robust with sales of $491.1 million—up 43 percent year-over-year. As we reported in our last issue, net […]
The US International Trade Commission said it will not revoke the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled steel products from China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ukraine. The Dec. 17 decision was the result of a required five-year (sunset) review process. US ITC said that revoking the orders “would be likely to lead to […]
U.S. Steel announced a price increase on Monday and the market appears to be cautiously optimistic as we enter the end of 2013 and look out into the New Year. The announcement itself was termed a “non-event” by one of the construction related steel mills with whom we spoke this afternoon as increases had previously […]
The marketplace is buzzing as to why the mills east of the Rockies have not yet made a price increase announcement. Someone mentioned to me last week that ArcelorMittal could not push prices higher without attracting attention to themselves due to the announced purchase of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA. AM does not want to be accused […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will change its organizational structure to one of regional management in order to simplify how the company is run. The reorganization will allow each business to follow its own strategy and focus for product specialization. The Group Management Board will be as follows: – Lou Schorsch , CEO of Flat Carbon Americas […]
If by chance you are celebrating the holidays on the North Coast you may catch a glimpse of the newest lake freighter, the Algoma Equinox as she slides in and out of port on the Great Lakes and its tributaries. The Algoma Equinox is the newest of a fleet of ships commissioned by Algoma Central […]
Steel buyers are bracing for a new round of flat rolled price increases according to steel buyers and executives as well as the results of our most recent Steel Market Update (SMU) market analysis of the flat rolled steel market which we conducted this past week. “It’s time to raise the price of flat rolled […]
Brazilian mining company, Vale SA, plans to sell its share of CSA owned by ThyssenKrupp according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal. Jose Carlos Martins, head of Vale’s Ferrous division and Strategy told WSJ that Vale typically invests in Brazilian steel plants to increase domestic steel production and then sells its share […]