As pricing and lead times continue to drop, buyers are keeping a close eye on the market, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the Tuesday, May 23, meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. Cautious optimism carried over from April’s meeting. Currently, 90% of galvanized buyers say […]
Two separate developments suggest that the Biden administration may have concerns that more tariffs would damage the US economy by harming consumers. First, we saw the president suspend action to impose additional tariffs on solar cells and modules from four countries in the face of an antidumping “circumvention” proceeding. Circumvention determines whether operations in third […]
In the race to lower emissions, both steel companies and countries are promoting greater use of domestic scrap, but this approach has two key weaknesses. Firstly, using more steel scrap in one country will have no impact on global carbon emissions – it will simply see scrap use move from one country to another. Secondly, […]
Solar tracker maker Nextracker and MSS Steel Tubes USA announced the commissioning of a new factory in Tennessee on Wednesday to make low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems. Nextracker said the Memphis facility will manufacture Nextracker steel torque tubes, create 129 jobs, and generate millions of dollars in local economic investment. In February, […]
Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global Metals, joined Steel Market Update for a Community Chat on May 17 where he spoke about his involvement in futures trading, risk management, and the new arm of the organization, Flack Manufacturing Investments. Flack discussed the state of the market for the past three years with SMU’s […]
There is debate brewing about whether sheet prices will see a long, slow slide or whether they’ll fall off the proverbial cliff. Some of you have told me you’re still trying to pass along costs for steel bought following the last round of mill price hikes. That’s not been an easy thing to do, especially […]
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO—as well as the newly elected AISI chairman—and Kevin Dempsey, AISI president and CEO, discussed issues ranging from Section 232 tariffs and hydrogen in steelmaking, to steel imports from Mexico, along with a host of other topics on Tuesday at the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) General Meeting press […]
The latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows a steep decline in business activity in the state of New York. The headline manufacturing general business conditions index from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York fell into the negative, dropping by nearly 43 points to -31.8 in the survey taken between May 2-9. The April index […]
Nucor has taken another step toward using nuclear power to fuel its electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel mills. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NuScale Power to evaluate co-locating NuScale’s VOYGR™ small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) power plants near Nucor’s mills. Doing so would provide carbon-free electricity to the mills […]
Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president, and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, has been elected as chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the institute said on Monday. The election for the two-year term by AISI’s board of directors took place at the AISI General Meeting at the InterContinental Hotel-The Wharf in Washington, D.C. “Lourenco is a dynamic leader in […]
New York-based steel producer 72 Steel Group LLC has announced plans to build a $218-million steel manufacturing plant in Aliquippa, Pa., near Pittsburgh, according to media reports. The plant on a nearly 44-acre site will produce rebar and products widely used in construction, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The current owner of the […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is preparing to lay off approximately 300 workers at its Weirton, W.Va., tin mill operations in June due to “dumped and subsidized imports,” according to a press release from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The Cleveland-based steelmaker invested more than $50 million over two years in the Weirton plant to increase production. Census data indicates that […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, May 17, at 11 am ET. The webinar is free. You can register here. We’ll talk about the increased volatility that has characterized the steel market since 2020. Remember when hot-rolled coil used to […]
Executives from leading US steel companies sat down to discuss some of the challenges ahead of what appears to be a very bright future for the industry at AISTech 2023’s Town Hall Forum in Detroit on Wednesday, May 10. Panelists included Traci L. Forrester, Cleveland-Cliffs’ EVP, environmental and sustainability; Richard L. Fruehauf, SVP – chief […]
Private equity firm Apollo has been looking to add Arconic to its portfolio for some time. Almost since its spin-off from its upstream parent, Alcoa, in 2016, Arconic’s assets and key position in the aluminum semis value chain have been on Apollo’s radar. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2023, at […]
The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) for May fell by 6.6% month over month (m/m) to 331.0, registering its sharpest m/m decline since July 2022. While Turkish demand for metallics has stayed underwhelming due to lower-than-expected reconstruction works, steelmakers elsewhere have adopted a wait-and-see approach until steel prices stabilize. Sharp reductions in steel prices were […]
Decarbonization was the order of the day at the AISTech 2023 President’s Award Breakfast on Tuesday. Other issues highlighted included workforce availability and bringing more women into the steel industry. With over 1,300 attendees present at the breakfast in Huntington Place in Detroit, and hundreds more watching online, the AIST Board of Directors Awards were […]
Mississauga, Ontario-based service center group Russel Metals reported sequential improvement in its business segments in the first quarter, while results weakened year over year. The company reported Q1 net income of Canadian $73.9 million (US$55.2 million) on sales of nearly CA$1.2 billion compared to net income of CA$98.7 million on sales of CA$1.34 billion in […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, May 17, at 11 am ET. The webinar is free. You can register here. We’ll talk about the increased volatility that has characterized the steel market since 2020. Remember when hot-rolled coil used to […]
A senator from West Virginia believes the US Army Corps of Engineers’ permitting process for Nucor’s planned mill in Mason County is dragging on too long. “I absolutely think it’s moving too slowly,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va), said during a virtual press conference with reporters on Thursday, according to Huntington, W.Va.’s The Herald-Dispatch. […]
Northwest Pipe reported a drop in first-quarter earnings but is optimistic on the remainder of the year. The Vancouver, Wash.-based pipe producer saw Q1 net income dropped 34% from the year-ago quarter to $2.4 million, with sales down 9% to $99.1 million. “As we expected, the first quarter was challenging due to severe weather events […]
The Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition (GLCH) has officially submitted its full application for federal funding to create a $2-billion clean hydrogen hub in the Midwest. GLCH’s plan is to develop a hub to serve Ohio, Michigan, and portions of Pennsylvania and Indiana to help industries in the region decarbonize. Cleveland-Cliffs already has plans to […]
Saudi Arabian energy company Aramco, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) signed an agreement on May 1 to build a steel plate manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. The operation is expected to have a plate production capacity of up to 1.5 million tons per year, Aramco said. It will […]
The US manufacturing sector looks to have contracted for another month, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in March, according to the latest monthly report on business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s manufacturing PMI came in at 47.1% in April. Although 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous month, the […]
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan recently gave an important speech on the direction of trade policy. It was not his speech alone, but part of a coordinated roll-out of the Biden administration on trade policy, including contributions from President Biden, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. It’s worth looking at […]
Mexico is benefiting from the trend of the reshoring of manufacturing as companies work to secure reliable supply chains and be closer to their end markets. As a result, Ternium’s Mexican operations are seeing increasing shipments and market share. Company executives discussed this and other topics on the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, […]
The prime scrap and metallic shortage in the US will continue over the next few years, according to Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive. “Our conviction that this country’s prime scrap and metallic shortage will continue to tighten over the coming years is at the core of our strategy,” Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
As you make your travel plans for this summer, don’t forget about this year’s Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. The event will again be held at the Georgia International Convention Center, a world-class conference facility adjacent to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—think low airfares and easy access. So mark your calendar for Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-23. The […]
The United States and European Union are quarrelling about several trade issues. None is more far-reaching than the trade impact of measures to address climate change. While some still doubt the need or ability of the world’s nations to tax or subsidize their way out of human-caused global warming, governments, at least in Europe and […]
Despite high interest rates dampening demand, strength in manufacturing across the globe will drive a rebound in steel demand this year, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its April 2023 Short Range Outlook. “In 2022, recovery momentum after the pandemic shock was hampered by high inflation and increasing interest rates, the Russian invasion of […]