Steel Mills
March 30, 2014
This Could Be a Tumultuous Week
Written by John Packard
US Steel has essentially lost a steel mill – Great Lakes in Ecorse, Michigan – for how long is the unknown question. Part of the roof collapsed in the building which houses their basic oxygen furnace (they called it a basic oxygen process or BOP). It is the most critical piece of equipment in the steel making process and no steel gets made at Great Lakes without it (we have a full report in an article below).
It is Steel Market Update’s opinion that the loss of Great Lakes will have a ripple effect across the other steel mills as they move to protect their customers and order books. We would expect there may be a number of order books which will be “closed” come Monday morning as the commercial and operations departments at each mill take stock of what has happened and what impact it may have on their order books. Further price announcements could happen (although we think the mills will wait to see how long Great Lakes will be down). Be prepared.
