As “the next precious metal,” prime scrap is a growth opportunity and a logical fit for Cleveland-Cliffs, which announced Monday that it plans to acquire Detroit-based Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT). The $775-million deal, Cliffs’ first foray into scrap, comes as no big surprise to most market observers. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest producer of […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp. will hold a groundbreaking ceremony next week for its second location in Mexico. The new, 84,000-square-foot facility will be in the central Mexican city of Querétaro and is expected to open in the spring of 2022, the Roswell, Ga.-based service center said. “Through this strategic investment we will be able to further […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has agreed to acquire Midwestern scrap recycler Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT) for $775 million. The deal means the Cleveland-based steelmaker has secured its own reserves of prime scrap, which Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has previously characterized as a “precious metal.” FPT recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has agreed to acquire Midwestern scrap recycler Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT) for $775 million. The deal means the Cleveland-based steelmaker has secured its own reserves of prime scrap, which Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has previously characterized as a “precious metal.” FPT recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization […]
Olympic Steel Inc.’s sale of its Detroit location to Venture Steel and its subsequent acquisition of Shaw Stainless & Alloys marked the latest step in a years’ long effort to pivot from roots in Midwestern carbon flat-rolled steel markets, the company’s top executive said. The Cleveland-based service center – while by no means exiting the region – […]
Olympic Steel Inc.’s sale of its Detroit location to Venture Steel and its subsequent acquisition of Shaw Stainless & Alloys marked the latest step in a years’ long effort to pivot from roots in Midwestern carbon flat-rolled steel markets, the company’s top executive said. The Cleveland-based service center – while by no means exiting the region – […]
Whether they believe steel prices are in for a sharp or a gradual correction, most of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to SMU’s latest survey agree the market is at a turning point. Here are a few of their recent observations: “Yes, I think we are at the inflection point. The market appears to be […]
Let’s put aside the question of whether the steel market has peaked. Let’s just assume that it has, for the sake of argument. Will the correction be gradual, rapid, or gradual until it’s rapid? I tend to think it will be the latter. But let’s put the question of timing aside and just look at […]
Nucor Corp. is expanding its Fastener Division with the acquisition of a coil processing facility in Shelbyville, Ind. The latest asset will complement upgrades planned at the company’s engineered bar mill in Nebraska, allowing the steelmaker to expand its sales to the automotive market. Nucor Fastener is a division of the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker that makes cap […]
Sheet prices are mixed this week. Hot rolled is up $10 per ton, cold rolled is down $30 per ton, and galvanized base prices are unchanged. What do you make of a week like this when there is no clear trend? First, I would caution against reading too much into any one week – especially when […]
In the latest salvo in the emerging battle for green steel dominance, Nucor has launched Econiq, a new line of net-zero carbon steel products. “Building the green economy and the necessary infrastructure requires clean, advanced steel products. By introducing Econiq, Nucor is providing confidence for steel consumers to know they are purchasing the lowest greenhouse gas […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a new three-year labor agreement with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 3044, which represents approximately 350 workers at the steelmaker’s Rockport Works near Rockport, Ind. The new contract is retroactively effective from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2024. “Our union workforce is at the core of not just what we do […]
By most measures, the steel market is in transition. Demand remains strong, with notable exceptions in sectors such as automotive. Supplies remain tight, but not nearly as tight as earlier in the year thanks to surging imports. Mill lead times are still highly extended versus historical averages, but are a week or two shorter than […]
Steel Market Update’s foreign versus domestic price analysis elsewhere in this issue shows hot rolled imports still anywhere from $400 to $800 per ton cheaper than prices in the U.S., depending on the country of origin. The potential cost advantage remains very tempting to buyers willing to take on the risks of a long and […]
Worthington Industries Inc. reported net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 totaling $1.1 billion, up 58% from $702.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was driven primarily by higher average direct selling prices in Steel Processing and by higher overall volume improvements, the company said. “We again delivered record adjusted earnings per […]
Worthington Industries Inc. has agreed to buy Tempel Steel Company, a manufacturer of precision motor and transformer laminations for the electrical steel market, for roughly $255 million. The move by the Columbus-based steel processor will boost its position in the growing electric vehicle (EV) landscape, the company said. Tempel Steel, headquartered in Chicago and founded […]
U.S. Steel’s Midwest Plant is back up and running after operations were temporarily halted because of discolored wastewater, a company spokeswoman said. The Portage, Ind., finishing operation – part of U.S. Steel’s Gary Works in northwest Indiana – had been down for about a day, the spokeswoman told SMU on Wednesday afternoon. Midwest Plant typically discharges treated […]
U.S. Steel has temporarily halted operations at its Midwest Plant because of discolored wastewater discharged from its Portage, Ind., finishing facility. “The Midwest Plant was shut down as a precaution, and we continue to coordinate with agencies to collect additional samples to monitor the situation,” a company spokeswoman said in an email to Steel Market […]
North American auto assemblies rebounded in August after light vehicle production hit a 14-month low the prior month. Despite the increase, the impact of the chip shortage continued to worsen, diminishing vehicle inventories and pushing regional sales down during the month, according to LMC Automotive (LMCA). Total North American vehicle production, including personal and commercial […]
At the top of the news this week, Steel Market Update sources reported that steel supplies are loosening as lead times from the domestic mills shorten and surging imports start to make it into service center inventories. It’s no surprise, then, that steel prices are beginning to moderate. Hot rolled steel prices rose virtually every […]
It’s far too early to say that the automotive sector – and the steelmakers who supply it – are out of the woods when it comes to the global chip shortage. But for the first time in weeks, General Motors and several other automakers with North American operations have announced no additional downtime or have […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled steel has declined for two weeks in a row, according to Steel Market Update’s latest surveys of steel buyers. In both cases, the decline was a mere $5 per ton. Margins of error being what they are, your takeaway should not be -$5, or even a decline (which could […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor CRU recently developed a bottom-up zinc demand model to improve our medium-term demand forecasts. The model calculates demand in key regions and countries for the six major first uses of refined zinc: galvanized sheet, general galvanizing, copper-zinc alloys, die casting alloys, zinc oxide […]
Nucor has enough raw material to supply its planned $2.7 billion, 3-million tpy sheet mill, but is exploring new technologies that might help it further reduce carbon emissions. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker is eyeing a range of options – including increased use of shredded scrap in its sheet mills’ electric-arc furnaces (EAFs), “green” pig iron […]
Nucor plans to build a new, $2.7 billion electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill with annual capacity of three million tons per year in either Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia. The facility is aimed at customers in the Midwest and Northeast as well as at the automotive industry, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. “These important markets […]
Olympic Steel Inc. has sold its Detroit operations to Canadian flat-rolled metal processor and distributor Venture Steel Inc. for $58.4 million in cash. The Cleveland-based service center said the final sale price would be higher once working capital adjustments were taken into account. The deal will allow Olympic to reduce debt, give it more flexibility […]
U.S. Steel plans to build a new, $3 billion minimill with capacity of three million tons per year in the United States. The new mill will sport two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) as well as “differentiated” steelmaking and finishing technology, the company said in a press release on Thursday, Sept. 16. Construction is expected to begin […]
By CRU Senior Editor Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Steel sheet prices were either little changed or fell w/w across most of the globe, with the U.S. market now joining in the global cooldown. Prices in the U.S. fell w/w for the first time in over year, albeit the decline was only […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) forecasts a new quarterly record in the third quarter of 2021 when it comes to steel operations’ profitability, according to guidance issued Wednesday. The gains versus second-quarter results come thanks to strong steel demand and significant metal spread expansion, the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker said. “Third-quarter 2021 steel shipments are expected to be […]
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 […]