Swedish steel company SSAB posted a loss of SEK 191 million ($22.4 million*) in third quarter. Earnings were down by SEK 600 million ($70.4 million) due to lower margins on heavy plate in North America, the costs of relining the blast furnace in Lulea, and negative currency effects. The company plans to cut approximately 500 […]
In September, vehicle sales reached a new post-recession high of almost 18.2 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. This followed the August rate of 17.8 million units. Both at the time were the best pace since July 2005, when incentives caused sales to surge. Sales in September were 10 percent higher than the […]
The difference between auto industry and steel industry: the UAW has issue a notice to GM that they could walk out at midnight tonight (Sunday) if they don’t have a contract. The USW is content to work under the old contract for as long as they can get away with it since both US Steel […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. posted net income of $54.4 million in third quarter despite falling prices, decreased sales, and a restructuring charge of $55.5 million related to businesses serving the energy industry. End market demand was relatively steady in third quarter, except in the energy market where shipments dropped approximately 40 percent year over […]
Nucor third quarter earnings exceeded analyst expectations with earnings per share of $0.71 compared to estimates of $0.49. Nucor posted net income of $227.1 million, up from $124.8 million in second quarter due to a larger than forecasted LIFO credit and improved performance in the steel segment. Consolidated net sales were $4.23 billion on shipments […]
Steel Dynamics reported decreased third quarter profit as a result of high levels of low priced imports and elevated domestic inventory. SDI posted net sales of $2.0 billion for a net income of $61 million in Q3. The three percent drop in sales was due to lower pricing and reduced volume in the recycling and […]
NLMK USA third quarter 2015 sale volume totaled 494,000 tonnes, up 3 percent from Q2 but 7 percent below sales for third quarter 2014. Automotive demand and recovery of the construction sector contributed to the quarterly increase in sales. Hot rolled sales of 271,000 tonnes were up 2 percent from Q2 but 13 percent below […]
AK Steel announced on Friday that it will temporarily idle the blast furnace and related steelmaking operations at the Ashland, Kentucky Works facility as a result of challenging domestic market conditions. AK Steel said it does not intend to idle the hot-dip galvanizing line at Ashland Works that primarily services automotive customers. The company has […]
US Steel Canada and its parent company US Steel Corp. are parting ways but uncertainty about the future of the Canadian steel mill lingers. In a Superior Court decision last week, Justice Herman Wilton-Siegal agreed to sever the connection between the companies and allow US Steel Canada to suspend health care benefits to more than […]
A debate has begun as to when flat rolled steel prices will bottom and begin to reverse course. Part of that dialogue is what will supply look like should US Steel go through with balancing their production by temporarily taking down their Granite City Works. This would be on top of the trade suits which […]
The following article is written by Spencer Johnson of FC Stone LLC. With six years of experience, Spencer provides his customers strategic and tactical advice on protecting themselves against commodity price volatility in the steel markets. Spencer will rotate weekly futures articles with Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC. Spencer can be reached at spencer.johnson@intlfcstone.com. […]
The Ontario Superior Court has reserved judgment on a plan by US Steel Corporation for the company and US Steel Canada to “go their separate ways.” Justice Herman J. Wilton Siegal said it is one of the toughest decisions he has had to make from the bench and will issue a summary of his decision […]
Flat rolled steel prices were mixed over this past week based on data reported in our survey as well as the channel checks we were able to make during these past two hectic days. We are aware of offers on hot rolled under $400 per ton but we have not reported the numbers as readily […]
The UAW issued a strike notice today to Fiat Chrysler. The notice from UAW Chrysler VP and Director Norwood Jewell gave a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, for cancellation of the current hour-by-hour contract extension. “FCA US confirms that it has received strike notification from the UAW,” said Fiat Chrysler in a statement […]
U.S. Steel Canada will be in court Wednesday and Thursday presenting its arguments for suspending pension contributions and property tax payments. The company will also ask for an extension of CCAA protection. Parent company US Steel has said it will not include US Steel Canada in any bids for 2016 automotive contracts and plans to […]
The 12 countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have finally reached accord on an agreement after more than five years of intensive negotiations, effectively creating the world’s largest free trade zone. US Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an announcement that the agreement will “support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development and promote innovation across […]
SEWICKLEY, PA – OCTOBER 6, 2015 – Esmark, Inc., a diversified holding company and parent company of Esmark Steel Group, today announced that Michael J. Bush, a Principal of Esmark Steel Group, has been named Vice President of Commercial Sales for Esmark, Inc., effective immediately. Bush will report to Esmark, Inc. and Esmark Steel Group […]
I, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and a number of steel people are all in Davenport, Iowa enjoying the warmer than normal weather and great conditions to do a mill tour which is exactly what we did this afternoon (without Hillary and Jeb). I want to thank everyone at SSAB for their hospitality and for doing […]
I recently had dinner with the owner of a Midwest based flat rolled steel service center. During the course of the conversation the subject of steel sales and, specifically, the development of new sales leads came up. I am sure this is a topic that many service center managers reflect upon on an almost daily […]
UAW members rejected the tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler in what is being called a vote of emotion over logic. UAW President Dennis Williams tried to put a positive spin on the rejection of the agreement, saying in a statement, “What I love about our organization most of all is that no matter what we […]
U.S. automotive sale results were released today under the shadow of a failed UAW tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler. However, auto manufacturers kept their successful sales run going again in September. The Detroit Big Three all enjoyed double digit increases in sales last month. Ford gained 23 percent, General Motors 12 percent, and FCA 14 […]
Flat rolled steel prices have been slipping on a regular basis for a number of months. This has created a market where buyers expect lower prices each time they order steel, even if there is only a week or two between orders. This tends to keep order sizes modest and develops a feeding frenzy between […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 24, 2015 – The Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), has launched a new website that focuses on using steel for building construction. The new site, located at www.buildusingsteel.org, provides information for engineers, architects, owners, building contractors, code officials and other construction […]
ArcelorMittal announced it will invest $11.1 million its premier tubular facility, ArcelorMittal Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico. Construction of an additional tube mill and installation of downstream value-add processing equipment will enable the facility to supply high quality straight and formed tubes used in the production of automotive seating and head rest applications. The updated facility […]
The Precision Metalforming Association reports that members are forecasting a slight downturn in business conditions in the next three months. The PMA Business Conditions report is a monthly economic indicator of manufacturing, sampling opinions of 127 U.S. and Canadian metalforming companies. Average daily shipping levels are expected to decrease slightly, said metalformers, while incoming orders […]
Last week we reported on a change in the cold rolled antidumping/countervailing duty scope language that has created some concern within the manufacturing community. The concern is related to changes which resulted in this being added to the scope language: “Subject merchandise includes cold-rolled steel that has been further processed in a third country, including […]
“Steel will win out,” said Larry Kavanagh, president of the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) when asked about the use of aluminum in the automotive industry. SMU talked with Kavanagh about Ford’s announcement that it will increase the use of aluminum in the F-150, and potentially other vehicles, using Alcoa’s Micromill technology. The new Micromill […]
In August, vehicle sales reached a new recovery high of 17.8 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. This was the highest pace since July 2005, when incentives caused sales to surge. The August sales figure was particularly driven by light trucks which increased from 9.7 to 10.1 million units annualized. Autos fell from […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. anticipates improved profitability in third quarter from modestly increased margins that were offset by slightly lower shipments. Earnings will be higher than second quarter which was impacted by the closing of the Minnesota Iron operations and a planned maintenance outage at Iron Dynamics. SDI expects overall average product pricing to be flat […]
Nucor guidance for third quarter 2015 beat analyst estimates. Results are expected to be in the range of $0.45 to $0.50 per diluted share, up from $0.39 in second quarter but a decrease from 2014 Q3 earnings of $0.76 per diluted share. Nucor said margins have benefited from lower inventory costs in third quarter. The […]