Bend, Oregon-based Origami Solar has announced its Gen 2 steel module frame, which can be sourced from domestic steelmakers. The solar panel company said the steel solar module frame represents “a game-changing opportunity to disrupt high-risk Asian supply chains.” It can achieve this by leveraging US steel resources to end the solar industry’s reliance on […]
A lot of steel companies are talking about being carbon neutral by 2050. But how are we going to get there? And how do we get the rest of the world to come with us? As we proceed with decarbonization, what actually qualifies as “green steel,” and who gets to decide? A conversation today with Kevin […]
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, […]
US apparent steel supply rose 6% in March to 8.03 million net tons compared to the previous month, according to data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Apparent steel supply is determined by combining domestic steel mill shipments and finished US steel imports, then deducting total US […]
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 […]
The Congressional Steel Caucus (CSC) has urged the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to take action to address what it calls a “surge of Mexican steel imports” into the US. The CSC claims the imports are in violation of the US and Mexican 2019 Joint Statement on Section 232 Duties on Steel and Aluminum, […]
US steel shipments fell 5.9% in March vs. the same month last year, according to the most recent figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Tuesday. Domestic steel mills shipped 7,372,430 net tons in March, off from 7,835,600 net tons shipped a year earlier, but up 6.6% from the 6,917,842 net […]
A much-anticipated bleeding in US flat-rolled steel prices has begun. On the hot-rolled coil side, we’ve been losing approximately $20-25 per ton per week since mid-April. That’s a boo-boo. Steel might need a Band-Aid. Does it become a wound that needs a tourniquet? I ask that question because the high end of our HRC price […]
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 […]
Licenses to import steel into the US declined from March to April, with all major flat-rolled product categories showing month-on-month (MoM) declines, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce’s US Steel Import Monitor. Import licenses totaled more than 2.292 million net tons in April. This was a 12% drop from March’s final import […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has progressed in its attempt to secure iron ore mineral leases at its land near Nashwauk, Minn. An agreement has been reached with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is up for review by the Minnesota Executive Council on May 25, Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO, said in a statement […]
Feelings are running high with prices inflecting downward from historically high levels. I’ve had producers say that we’ve written too negatively about higher prices. I’ve also had consumers say that we’ve written too positively about higher prices. For the record: SMU doesn’t have a position on prices. We aim to report what’s happening in the market […]
U.S. Steel is bullish on the automotive market and believes it is well positioned to continue gaining market share in that important steel-consuming sector. Auto OEMs desire to have their advanced high-strength (AHSS) and automotive-grade steels produced more sustainably, said Kevin Lewis, U.S. Steel’s VP of finance, speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call […]
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 […]
We’ve written in SMU about “green” steel and whether steel consumers, including market-leading OEMs, will pay a premium for it. What about the potential for premiums in scrap too? Maybe not for green scrap. But what about for “prime grade” or prime-equivalent shredded scrap? Shred that transforms into prime – maybe we could call it […]
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 […]
As the ISRI Convention and Expo this week in Nashville, Tenn., comes to a close, I’m sure everyone’s mind is on recycling. While green steel and sustainability have been buzzwords for some time now, evidence of change is growing. You may recall the announcement of an alliance between US Steel, Equinor, and Shell to establish a […]
An upgrade to JSW Steel USA’s mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, is reportedly in the works. The company has proposed a $160 million investment for the mill, according to Samir Kapadia, principal at Vogel Group and lobbyist for JSW in Washington. Kapadia recently met with Parth Jindal, heir of India’s JSW Steel (of which JSW […]
Steel exports from the US increased 8% in February from the previous month, according to the latest US Commerce Department data. Total exports for February were 786,223 tons vs. 728,907 tons in January. This is the highest exports have been since August 2022 when they were at 800,677 tons. Canada led the way with 350,998 tons of exports. […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is proceeding with a plan that would see the company sold to a group of investors, according to a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange. Under terms of that deal, the Mexican steelmaker is expected to receive an initial infusion of $200 million to pay for working capital and labor obligations. AHMSA makes […]
US steel mill shipments declined 3.2% in February vs. January, and were off 4.4% from February 2022, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported on Wednesday. Domestic steel mills shipped 6,917,842 net tons in February, compared with 7,148,270 tons in January and 7,232,679 tons in the same month a year earlier. AISI said that shipments […]
A plume of orange smoke was reported over the weekend at US Steel’s Gary Works in Indiana, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana (NWI). The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is investigating the incident, according to NWI. No production issues were associated with the situation, a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker told SMU. “We are […]
A research team at the Missouri University of Science and Technology will be using a $2 million government grant to improve the operating efficiency of electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. The Missouri S&T research team is being led by Dr. Ronald O’Malley, the F. Kenneth Iverson Endowed Chair of Steelmaking Technologies and director of the Kent D. […]
US Steel said its new electrical steel product, InduX™, will start production this summer at the company’s Big River Steel facility in Osceola, Ark. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker will be commissioning its new non-grain oriented (NGO) electrical steel line at that time. When fully operational, it will produce up to 200,000 tons of InduX steel per […]
We haven’t had a price increase since March 13, the Monday after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. It’s entirely possible we’ll get another round of price hikes should mills decide the market will support it or should they want to reverse any bearish sentiment before it gains traction. It’s also possible that we won’t see another […]
Galvanized sheet continues to experience stable demand but market sentiment is waning, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the March 22 meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. Bullishness has subsided from sentiment in February. With lead times approaching eight weeks, HARDI members are experiencing tighter inventories and delayed […]
This week started without a price increase. Not that we needed another. Still, it felt weird after so many consecutive weeks of them. Prices continue to move up even without increases and lead times continue to extend. But the pace has moderated. Our hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,140 per ton ($57 per cwt) this […]
Martin Keighley, CEO of CarbonFree Chemical Holdings, recently spoke with SMU to discuss his company’s SkyCycle carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology. As previously reported, US Steel has entered into a preliminary agreement with CarbonFree to address the capture of CO2 at its Gary Works facility in Indiana. SkyCycle, CarbonFree’s second-generation […]
US Steel has restarted the No. 8 blast furnace at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it restarted the furnace in early March in response to improving demand and rising prices. The company had idled the No. 8 furnace in September, citing difficult market conditions and competition from imports. It hinted […]
US Steel said it will begin closing coke-making batteries 1, 2, and 3 at its Clairton plant outside Pittsburgh later this month. First announced in early 2021, the shutdown will take an estimated six days and is expected to be completed by the end of March, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said Tuesday. US Steel noted that […]