Tag: US

Steel shipments from US mills were lower in February, both from January and from last year.

OnmiSource LLC, a subsidiary of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based steel producer and recycler, Steel Dyanmics, Inc., has acquired Toledo Shredding, LLC, in Ohio.

The US Department of Energy has finalized Congressionally mandated energy-efficiency standards for transformers.

The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has revised upwards the antidumping duty (AD) rates on imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from two South Korean producers.

Several large buyers in the North came into the market on a sideways basis from prices paid in March. The development comes after recent speculation about what prices US-based steelmakers would pay for scrap for April shipments.

A prominent US senator has asked the White House to investigate Nippon Steel Corp.’s (NSC) ties to China as the Japanese steelmaker seeks to acquire U.S. Steel.

RHI Magnesita has announced its intention to acquire Pittsburgh-based refractory producer Resco Group for an enterprise value of up to $430 million.

On the eve of the April ferrous scrap buy, there is no firm consensus on the market’s direction. The safe predictions are “soft” sideways to “strong” sideways. That may mean down $10 per gross ton (gt) to up $10/gt.

You might have noticed that SMU has been publishing more articles about scrap in recent months. That was no accident. In fact, we’ve found enough of an audience that CRU, our parent company, has decided to launch a new publication – Recycled Metals Update, or RMU. It cover both ferrous and nonferrous scrap. RMU’s website is here. You can go there now and request a 30-day free trial. It’s that simple.

Sheet prices moved higher this week for the second consecutive week, while plate prices ticked lower, according to our latest canvas of the steel market.

US construction spending in February was mostly steady from January but showed significant gains from last year.

Reliance Inc. has acquired flat-rolled steel service center MidWest Materials of Perry, Ohio.

Domestic raw steel production rebounded from the seven-week low seen last week. It now stands at a three-week high, according to the latest release from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Total steel output in the US was estimated to have been 1,722,000 short tons (st) in the week ending March 30, up 1.1% from the week prior. Raw production is up 0.2% compared to the same week last year, when production totaled 1,718,000 st.

Following 16 months of contraction, US manufacturing activity expanded in March according to the latest report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

U.S. Steel Corp. will hold a special shareholder meeting on Friday, April 12, to vote on whether to approve or deny Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp.’s (NSC) nearly $15-billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.

Cleveland-Cliffs’ Lourenco Goncalves said the company is still interested in acquiring U.S. Steel, though no bid is currently on the table, according to a local report.

Electra has commissioned a clean ironmaking pilot plant in Boulder, Colo.

There is growing hope that the US scrap market has bottomed, according to industry sources. The steep price declines in March may have ushered in a floor because dealers say their stocks are a bit depleted. Their concern: that the flow of obsoletes could be cut severely with any further drop in prices. Is this wishful thinking, or do the fundamentals support the prediction of a market bottom? Let’s take a look!

SMU latest' steel market survey paints the picture of sheet market that has hit bottom and begun to rebound. Lead times are extending again after stabilizing earlier this month. Mills are far less willing to negotiate lower sheet prices - even if there are still deals to be had on plate, according to the steel buyers we canvassed.

After stabilizing in our last check of the market, production times for flat-rolled steel have begun to push out further, according to steel buyers responding to SMU's market survey this week.

SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index fell further week, now at the lowest reading recorded since October 2022

Steel companies in Mexico have lined up capex plans totaling $5.7 billion in the next three years. The focus is on replacing imports with domestic production, said David Gutierrez, outgoing president of sector association Canacero. “The investments are aimed at reducing imports, strengthening national production, and ensuring that the benefits stay in the country,” he was quoted as saying at Canacero’s annual congress by regional news service Business News Americas.

Oil and gas drilling activity in North America slowed this week, according to the latest figures from Baker Hughes.

The Biden administration this week announced landmark industrial funding to support potentially transformational industrial decarbonization projects. In total, thirty-three projects across eight industrial sectors will receive up to $6 billion in federal funds from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).

After reaching a seven-month high in January, steel imports fell back 3% in February, according to preliminary Census data released earlier this week.

US hot-rolled coil and offshore hot band moved further away from parity this week as stateside prices have begun to move higher in response to mill increases.

Numerous mid-sized export yards in California and in Baja Mexico had little to no inventory on the ground last week because most had sold forward in the falling March market. Looking to secure their margins, they dropped prices across the scale. That resulted in lower-than-normal flows. “I’m sold out through mid-April and even longer if the flow doesn’t pick up” one yard owner said. That turned out to be the position of numerous West Coast suppliers.

I can’t really define “Bidenomics” because it is so filled with contradictions. It seems to aim to increase manufacturing output in the United States. But not all increases are created equal.

Metalformers are expecting business conditions to remain steady over the next few months, according to the March Business Conditions Report from the Precision Metalforming Association.

Galvanized buyers reported solid demand and balanced inventories this week and were anticipating the sheet price increase announced by Cleveland-Cliffs on Wednesday.