Steel Buyers Worry About AK Steel & AM/NS Calvert

There are situations at two mills which are causing sleepless nights for some flat rolled steel buyers.

AK Steel, through the loss of their Ashland blast furnace, is helping tighten the Midwest market and keeping steel prices from plunging perhaps further than they may have otherwise. As one of our steel sources put it to Steel Market Update today, “…the further reduction of melt availability from the shutdown of the furnace will have an effect on their order book. Whether that results in them giving orders back, or customers with alternatives moving their business elsewhere, either way AK is reducing supply to the market.”