This past week I participated in the Cowen & Company conference in New York City and then traveled to Savannah, Georgia to attend the Association of Women in the Metals Industries international conference. Both conferences were well done. I spoke about the Cowen & Company conference in our last edition of SMU. Tonight I wanted […]
SSAB Americas sales jumped 29 percent year over year to SEK 3,716 million ($507 million) for an operating profit of SEK 558 million ($76 million). Profit was attributed primarily to higher steel prices and improved productivity. Steel shipments increased 5 percent to 559,000 tonnes (616,191 tons) on a year over year basis and 7 percent […]
Our Price Momentum Indicator has been stuck in “Neutral” since the last day of June 2014. We are now entering our 4th month and hot rolled steel prices have barely budged from the center line (OK, there have been some mild gyrations but no clear cut path up or down during the past three months). […]
SSAB, following its successful merger with Finnish steelmaker Rautaruukki, expects to reduce its annual cost base by SEK 1.4 billion ($194.7 million) over a three year period. In addition to cost synergies, SSAB expects to free up cash flow in the amount of SEK 500 million ($69.5 million)—half of it during 2015. The savings may […]
Today is the last day of the month and the last day of the 3rd Quarter 2014. According to one of the attorney’s who spoke at our Steel Summit Conference at the beginning of September today is the day that the domestic mills would want to file a dumping suit so they would not have […]
All of SSAB’s U.S. facilities are running at full capacity according to SSAB CEO Martin Lindqvist. In an interview with Bloomberg, the head of the Swedish steel company said the “re-industrialization” of the U.S. and improved demand from the energy, automotive and heavy transport sectors is boosting profitability for SSAB’s US operations. North American orders […]
For those who are keeping track I will be in Arkansas tomorrow for the Big River Steel groundbreaking. It will be interesting to see for myself what all the fuss is about… More about the groundbreaking (and maybe some of the fuss) in Tuesday evening’s issue of SMU. We have also been working on a […]
On Monday, Nucor announced their intention to acquire Gallatin Steel and its approximately 1.8 million tons of hot rolling capacity. Today, AK Steel and Steel Dynamics (SDI) completed the purchase of the Severstal North America assets. The biggest pieces of the Severstal deal are the Dearborn steel mill, which went to AK Steel, and the Columbus […]
On Monday, Nucor announced their intention to acquire Gallatin Steel and its approximately 1.8 million tons of hot rolling capacity. On Tuesday, AK Steel and Steel Dynamics (SDI) completed the purchase of the Severstal North America assets. The biggest pieces of the Severstal deal are the Dearborn steel mill, which went to AK Steel, and the […]
Late last week both ArcelorMittal and SSAB advised their customers of their intention to raise plate prices. Both companies followed the Nucor lead which was made on Monday of this past week, to raise carbon as rolled plate by $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and alloy, heat-treated, normalized and quenched and tempered plate prices by $40 […]
Improved demand and higher prices in North America helped SAAB Americas report a strong profit for second quarter and the first half of 2014 after reporting losses in both time periods in 2013. SSAB Americas steel sales soared 15 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2014 and 9 percent on a quarterly […]
For those of you who don’t realize it – Steel Market Update is conducting our mid-July market analysis this week. I have added a couple of questions about the sale of the Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. I will send out a reminder email first thing in the morning on Wednesday. If you receive an […]
US Steel agreed in a Northern Illinois federal court on Tuesday to pay $58 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products. The suit alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by restricting production of steel products between […]
We have two markets developing for flat rolled steel imports: hot rolled imports are expected to actually begin to shrink from here as the offers out of Russia and Turkey for hot rolled pricing are approximately $600 per ton or higher. Since most foreign steel buyers tend to be buyers of large tonnage and thus […]
According to industry sources, SSAB Americas announced a price increase on plate products as well as hot rolled coil. The price increase was referenced at $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and are effective immediately. Nucor and ArcelorMittal advised their customers after the SSAB announcement was made supporting the $30 per ton move. SMU learned from multiple […]
SSAB is looking at a potential expansion to its facility in Montpelier, Iowa that would increase steel production capacity by 1.2 million tons. The expansion would add about 800,000 tons of finished product annually along with 400,000 tons of smelting capacity to be transferred as slab to SSAB’s mobile facility for rolling and finishing. The end […]
ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay a $90 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit brought in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. The class action lawsuit, filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products, alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by […]
Mike Rippey, president and CEO of ArcelorMittal USA, has been elected Chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Rippey will serve as chairman until May 2015, leading advocacy efforts on behalf of AISI and the industry to advance pro-manufacturing polices that will enhance the competitiveness of the North American steel industry. “Mike’s been a strong […]
Damages in an anti-trust lawsuit against Nucor Corp, Reliance Steel & Aluminum, American Alloy Steel, JSW Steel and one individual defendant have been tripled to a final judgment of $156 million. US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt granted MM Steel LP’s motion to treble the $52 million jury verdict, rejecting motions by the defendants to delay […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to rise for the 6th week (according to SMU HRC average) with the benchmark hot rolled coil price average just below $680 per ton and just a few dollars away from the $685 announced by Nucor and a number of other mills at the beginning of April. For the first […]
SSAB Americas felt the effects of the winter freeze in the first quarter of 2014. Sales for the Americas segment were SEK 3,685 million ($559 million), down 2 percent from fourth quarter 2013 but 7 percent higher than Q1 2013. Higher prices and a favorable product mix were offset by lower volumes. External steel shipments […]
For our plate customers, SSAB announced a $40 per ton plate price increase effective immediately. We will see if it sticks in the marketplace. We have a couple of minor bugs and tweaks we are working out of our systems and then we will release our Managing Price Risk II: Strategies & Execution workshop for […]
US Steel recently announced a series of executive changes. David Britten, current Senior Vice President – Tubular Operations, will assume the newly created position of Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Britten will be responsible for a further expansion of the company’s worldwide innovation, technology, engineering, and research and development of products, services and […]
A Houston, Texas jury returned a verdict for $52 million in damages against Nucor Corp., Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., its unit Chapel Steel Corp., American Alloy Steel Inc., and JSW Steel Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit brought by former plate steel distributor MM Steel, LP. SSAB was also named in the lawsuit but settled […]
Steel industry leaders met with members of the Congressional Steel Caucus this morning (March 25, 2014) to discuss the need for policy reform on trade, energy, environment and infrastructure in order to keep US industries competitive. SMU has reprinted the short version of the American Iron and Steel Institute press release below. The full testimonies […]
SSAB Americas improved its operating profit in fourth quarter 2013 to $27.8 million from $17 million in the same period in 2012. Sales for the quarter increased 17 percent from the previous quarter, totaling $581.7 million compared to $499 million year-over-year. For full year 2013, sales totaled $2.216 billion, slipping from $2.492 billion in 2012. […]
I want to take a moment to thank Mark Bush, General Manager Mobile Operations for SSAB Americas as well as Brent Major of SSAB Americas for their hospitality during our tour of the SSAB Mobile steel facilities as part of our most recent Steel 101 workshop. Our group was impressed with the steelmaking as well […]
Imports of total flat rolled products increased in January to 990,803 tons from 852,840 in December. Total long products increased from 412,848 to 552,093 tons. Total sheet products as a sub set of flat rolled increased from 677,510 to 775,337 tons. Semi finished declined from 604,558 to 532.813 tons. An analysis of the 3 month […]
Most everyone is well aware that this week is one of those crazy weeks for me personally. I am teaching a portion of our Steel 101 workshop here in Mobile (weather is indeed warm), went on a marvelous mill tour of the SSAB steel mill and spent time networking with our attendees, instructors and SSAB […]
A good portion of the Steel Market Update team is bolting for Mobile on Monday to prepare for our next Steel 101 workshop. We are looking forward to having a spirited workshop and we are appreciative of the efforts of our host steel mill – SSAB – as they prepare for our workshop touring their […]