Nucor’s growth strategy goal “is not simply about being the biggest steel company,” Nucor chair, president and CEO Leon Topalian said. “As we evaluate and pursue new, ‘expand beyond’ platforms, we’re focused on opportunities that leverage our core capability as an efficient industrial manufacturer and are aligned with steel-intensive mega-trends or themes,” Topalian said. He […]
A stable market and steady lead times have led to decent demand, but companies are still keeping a close eye on where the market is headed, according HARDI members.
We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon.
Nucor has completed slightly more than 50% of a $10-billion capital expenditures plan to grow its core steelmaking operations, Leon Topalian, company chair, president, and CEO, said in a second-quarter earnings conference call with investors.
We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon. Or at least that seemed to be the consensus in mid-June after mills rolled out a round of $50-per-ton price hikes, with a second round rumored to be in the works. That second round of price hikes […]
Nucor has completed slightly more than 50% of a $10-billion capital expenditures plan to grow its core steelmaking operations, Leon Topalian, company chair, president, and CEO, said in a second-quarter earnings conference call with investors. Here is an update regarding several of the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s projects. Nucor Steel Gallatin (Sheet and Tube) Topalian said the […]
A stable market and steady lead times have led to decent demand, but companies are still keeping a close eye on where the market is headed, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the July 25 meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. During June’s meeting, 36% of […]
Nucor reported sequentially higher second quarter earnings but warned that results would be worse in the third quarter. "We expect earnings in the third quarter of 2023 to decrease compared to the second quarter of 2023," the company said in comments released with Q2 earnings results on Monday, July 24.
Nucor reported sequentially higher second quarter earnings but warned that results would be worse in the third quarter. “We expect earnings in the third quarter of 2023 to decrease compared to the second quarter of 2023,” the company said in comments released with Q2 earnings results on Monday, July 24. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted […]
June 1 was the most recent low for CME Midwest HRC futures. At that time, the curve was approximately flat around $800 per short ton (st). Since then, the August future has rallied $188/st, settling today at $983/st, while the September future has rallied $160/st, settling today at $953/st. The chart below compares the curve […]
Join us for SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, July 12, at 11 a.m. ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about what Tanners describes as “the myth […]
Sheet prices were little changed this week amid typically slower activity around the Fourth of July. Market participants said that another round of sheet price hikes might come later this week or early next to shore up an initial round of price increases announced in mid-June. In the meantime, some of the heavy discounting that […]
Join us for SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, July 12, at 11 am ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about what Tanners describes as “the myth […]
It’s been a wild ride in the HRC futures market since we last wrote this column. The chart below shows the CME Futures curve at our last publication at the beginning of June (yellow) and the last three weeks since Nucor’s initial price announcement (blue). A month ago, the physical market was in the doldrums. […]
The pressure that comes with being a CEO is not for the faint of heart. With every decision they make, CEOs have to keep in mind what’s best for the company. Karla Lewis, president and CEO of Reliance Steel & Aluminum, and Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor Corp., sat down with Metal Service […]
Companies should keep a watchful eye on pricing and lead times, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the June 27 meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. During May’s meeting, most HARDI participants thought that prices would continue to drop. Over half of the individuals thought it […]
Our latest survey results indicate that the round of $50/ton ($2.50/cwt) sheet price hikes have a good chance of at least stabilizing prices or increasing them modestly. To be clear, SMU does not make formal forecasts. I’m basing this on what we’re seeing in past survey results following price hikes compared to what we’re seeing […]
Decarbonization was among the key topics at the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) annual meeting last week in Washington, D.C. Greg Bertelsen, CEO of the Climate Leadership Council, joined Katie McCall Larson, vice president of government affairs and sustainability for SSAB, and Dan Needham, executive vice president of commercial at […]
How can SMU’s sheet prices go down shortly after a round of $50-per-ton mill price hikes? Long story short: It’s because we’re capturing both pre- and post-increase pricing in our survey as well as in calls and emails with some of you. And, as those of you who’ve been in the industry for a while […]
ArcelorMittal has followed U.S. Steel and Nucor in an attempt to increase sheet prices by $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The Luxembourg-based steelmaker also specified new minimum base prices: $950 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and $1,150 per ton for cold-rolled and coated products. ArcelorMittal made the price hike announcement with the opening […]
What to make of the latest round of sheet prices hikes: Are they aimed at stopping the bleeding, getting buyers off the sidelines, or actually getting sheet prices back up again? These are serious questions now in a way that they weren’t after U. S. Steel first announced its price hike last Wednesday. That hike […]
We are counting down the days until SMU’s Steel Summit Conference on Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-23, in Atlanta. It’s only a little over two months away. Approximately 755 people have already registered. Our discounted room blocks are almost gone. Register here. The event will again be held at the Georgia International Convention Center, a massive conference center in close […]
Nucor aims to increase base prices for new orders of steel sheet by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt), effective immediately. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker also said that its new base price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) was $900 per ton. “We reserve the right to review and re-quote any offers that are not […]
Nucor Corp. said its second-quarter earnings should beat those of the prior quarter on strength in all its business segments. The steelmaker expects its Q2 earnings to be in the range of $5.45 to $5.55 per diluted share. Although down from the $9.67 per share posted in Q2 last year, it’s an improvement upon Q1 […]
Nucor said Wednesday the location of its second utility structures production facility will be in Crawfordsville, Ind. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the new operation it’s building will be located next to the Nucor Steel Crawfordsville steel mill, and is expected to create 200 full-time jobs. “With this second utility structure production facility, we are expanding our […]
Sometimes it seems the whole world is downstream of the steel industry. Now, that may be a side effect of spending my days immersed in lead times, steel buyers sentiment, and hot-rolled coil futures. That would be a fair assessment. However, looking into the testimonies from the Congressional Steel Caucus’ recent hearing on June 7 […]
The Congressional Steel Caucus held a hearing on The State of the Steel Industry in Washington on Wednesday, June 7, where prominent steel executives and the United Steelworkers (USW) union gave testimony on issues such as international trade and sustainability. In his opening remarks, US Rep. Frank Mrvan (D.-Ind.), vice-chairman of the Caucus, stressed his […]
The Steel Tube Institute (STI) has announced its new president, Ramiro Rodriguez Agusti of Nucor-Republic Conduit. Rodriguez Agusti, a long-time STI member, began his two-year term on June 1. He follows former STI president Glenn Baker of Searing Industries. Rodriguez Agusti is currently head of Nucor-Republic Conduit’s commercial division and is the company’s primary point of contact for the […]
The US Department of Commerce issued the final results of its expedited sunset review of antidumping (AD) duties on steel plate from three Asian countries. The agency found that allowing the duties to expire would result in the continuation of dumping at significant rates. This is the fourth sunset review of the AD duties on […]
Nucor Corp. is joining the carbon capture movement. The Charlotte, N.C.–based steelmaker announced on June 1 that it has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to utilize carbon from its direct-reduced iron (DRI) facility in Louisiana. ExxonMobil will capture, transport, and store carbon – up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year – from Nucor’s […]