I anticipate next week’s spot hot rolled and other flat rolled steel prices will be higher than what we reported on Tuesday evening (HRC = $1,080 per ton average). We received information from an end user today of hot rolled purchases of $1,140 per ton for end of March/early April production. An order for HR […]
Resilient construction demand enabled Commercial Metals Company to weather the COVID-19 crisis without disruption to productivity. CMC’s fourth-quarter FY 2020 earnings totaled $67.8 million, a 6.5 percent increase from the third quarter. Consolidated net sales totaled $1.4 billion, with sequential increases in both the North America and Europe segments. Net sales for the year reached […]
Commercial Metals Co. navigated through third quarter FY 2020 pandemic challenges with almost no disruption to operations or loss of productivity, achieving net sales of $1.34 billion and earnings of $64.2 million Barbara Smith, chairman of the board, president and CEO, commented, “While the effects of the COVID-19 crisis impacted our business throughout the third […]
Gerdau has partnered with 174 Power Global to develop one of the largest behind-the-meter solar facilities in the nation. The companies have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement that will develop an 80-megawatt solar project adjacent to the Gerdau Midlothian Steel mill in Midlothian, Texas. An array of more than 231,00 solar panels, spanning 700 […]
Despite a flurry of maintenance projects completed in the second half of 2019, several steelmakers are planning outages or idling of operations during the next few months. Steel producing mills have been designated as essential critical infrastructure and are not subject to state COVID-19 shutdowns. ArcelorMittal, however, is adjusting production by idling its IH-4 furnace at Indiana Harbor […]
Commercial Metals Company is looking forward to a steady construction market in 2020 for its merchant bar and rebar products. “We are positioned to continue benefiting from the positive trends in our core markets and remain optimistic about the construction market, as many of the macro indicators we monitor point to resilience ahead,” said President […]
Commercial Metals Company is enjoying the rewards of its purchase of four rebar mills and 33 fabrication facilities from Gerdau. The acquisition added 2.5 million tons of rolling capacity and increased fabrication capacity by almost 50 percent. “The systems integration was flawless and got completed in less than four months, well ahead of schedule,” said […]
Commercial Metals Co. has shut down the melt shop at its steel rebar mill in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., citing restrictive regulations and low-cost competition. “The burdensome regulatory environment and cost of doing business in California has put the Rancho Cucamonga melt shop at a severe cost disadvantage in the highly competitive rebar market,” said CMC […]
Nearly 1,000 executives are registered with just two weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our 9th […]
Commercial Metals Company announced the retirement of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mary A. Lindsey, effective Aug. 31. Lindsey joined the company in 2009 as Vice President-Tax, transitioning to Vice President-Tax and Investor Relations in 2015 and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in January 2016. She was promoted to Senior Vice President […]
Expansion at Commercial Metals Corp. is paying off with a 33 percent increase in revenue to $1.6 billion in the third quarter of FY 2019. In November, CMC acquired Gerdau’s four rebar mills and 33 fabrication facilities in the U.S., increasing its U.S. mill capacity by 75 percent. Net earnings for CMC totaled $78.6 million. […]
Barbara R. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Commercial Metals Company, will be named AIST Steelmaker of the Year at AISTech 2019 — The Iron & Steel Technology Conference and Exposition. One of AIST’s highest honors, the Steelmaker of the Year Award is given to an industry leader who has had significant impact on […]
Commercial Metals Company reported net earnings of $14.9 million on net sales of $1.4 billion for the second quarter of its fiscal 2019 year ending Feb. 28, 2019. Revenue for the quarter increased 33 percent year-over-year due to favorable market conditions and strategic growth initiatives, including completion of the Gerdau S.A. acquisition in November. The […]
By CRU Steel Analyst Ryan McKinley CMC’s expanded footprint across the United States, following its acquisition of Gerdau’s assets, raises the probability that a rebar price increase is on the horizon. That said, price increases may be short-lived as Nucor works to bring two of its newest micro mill projects online in 2019. Rebar prices […]
Charlotte-based Nucor Corp. will suspend operations at its sheet mill in Berkeley, S.C., and its plate mill in Hertford, N.C., in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. Operations began shutting down on Wednesday and will restart after the storm passes, said Nucor spokesperson Katherine Miller. “At Nucor, safety is our top priority…. We are closely monitoring the […]
Commercial Metals Company net sales jumped 15 percent to $1.2 billion for earnings of $42.3 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, ending May 31. Earnings and sales increased from the second quarter due to strong demand across all of CMC segments. “The CMC team delivered outstanding results in our third fiscal quarter,” […]
Liberty Steel is set to reopen on Monday, June 25, in Georgetown, S.C. The wire-rod rolling facility, purchased by London-based Liberty House in December, will be renamed Liberty Steel Georgetown. Currently, the mill is in a testing phase, but is expected to begin production soon. United Steelworkers Union Local 7898 credits the recent tariffs on […]
High graphite electrode prices will soon start to show up in the price of steel, reports West Coast scrap exporter Damon Sun of Daido International, who offers the following observations on the market: “The Asian markets will likely take a back seat to U.S. scrap as mills start adjusting for the extremely high graphite electrode […]
Gerdau announced the appointment of Chia Wang to President of its North American long steel operation, effective April 24. Wang, currently Supply Chain Vice-President in North America, will succeed the CEO of Gerdau, Gustavo Werneck, who served as interim president for the last three months. A 30-year veteran at Gerdau, Wang has held positions in […]
Gerdau SA is divesting its Beaumont, Texas, wire rod mill and two downstream operations, Beaumont Wire Products and Carrollton Wire Products, to reduce its footprint in the U.S. long products market. Optimus Steel LLC will acquire the facilities for $92.5 million in a deal to close by the end of the year. The sale is […]
Gerdau is making changes in its North American leadership. Peter Campo, president of the North American long steel division, will leave the company effective Jan. 23. Gerdau CEO Gustavo Werneck will lead operations until a new leader for the division is selected. “The recent change in our business portfolio in North America demanded a shift […]
Commercial Metals Company (CMC) has agreed to buy Gerdau’s rebar operations in the United States for $600 million. The acquisition includes 33 rebar fabrication facilities, as well as steel mills in Knoxville, Tenn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Sayreville, N.J.; and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., with annual mill rolling capacity of 2.5 million tons. The addition of the Gerdau facilities will bring CMC’s global […]
The Department of Commerce issued an affirmative final determination in the antidumping investigation of carbon and alloy steel wire rod imports from Belarus, the Russian Federation and the United Arab Emirates. The following dumping margins were assigned: Belarus: 280.02 percent Russia: 756.93 percent for Abinsk Electric Steel Works Ltd. and JSC NLMK-Ural, and 436.8 percent […]
In a preliminary ruling on Wednesday, the Commerce Department found that seven countries have sold carbon and alloy steel wire rod in the United States at less than fair value. Subject to antidumping duties ranging from 2 to 148 percent are imports from Italy, Korea, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Wire […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association is still confident that the Section 232 investigation on steel imports will bring relief to the U.S. steel industry. SMA President Philip Bell called the investigation a “really complex issue,” during a media call on Monday. Although the administration issued a self-imposed deadline of June 30, which it failed to meet, […]
An explosion at the Gerdau long products steel mill in Wilton, Iowa, injured three employees and a contractor on Wednesday night. The incident occurred in the facility’s melt shop and resulted in temporary suspension of operations. Gerdau Ameristeel is working with authorities to investigate and determine the cause of the explosion. “Gerdau’s priority is attending […]
Ferrous scrap prices were expected to rise by $20 to $30 per gross ton once the September negotiations began. By Thursday afternoon (today), we were learning that steel mills are suddenly able to buy at sideways numbers. We understand North Star BlueScope was able to buy September at the same prices as August. Other sources […]
André Gerdau Johannpeter has resigned as the chief executive of Gerdau SA, one of the largest steelmakers in the Americas, as members of the founding family exit from the company’s executive management. Gostavo Werneck, head of Gerdau’s Brazil operations, will replace him in January. Also stepping down from their management roles are Executive Vice-Presidents Claudio […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) asked ferrous scrap guru Mike Marley of World Steel Dynamics how he is seeing ferrous scrap price negotiations as we enter the month of August. He reported what we have heard from our scrap sources: the market should expect higher scrap pricing in the coming month. Here’s what Marley told us […]
As if it is not enough to call every ton of imported steel “dumped,” “subsidized” or “unfairly priced,” steelmakers are now using a scare tactic by telling our politicians we need a strong domestic steel industry in the interest of national security. As a Bloomberg report pointed out, less than 3 percent of the steel consumed in the […]