On Tuesday, April 14, China announced it will terminate antidumping and countervailing duty tariffs on grain-oriented electrical steel exports from the U.S. U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH), who have been leaders in pushing for fair trade practices, applauded the decision. “This announcement is great news for Ohio steel producers like AK […]
Alton Steel says it will temporarily lay off 62 employees, 25 percent of its total workforce, until demand improves in the SBQ market. According to ASI President and CEO, Jim Hrusovsky, “We have reviewed three factors: orders, inventory and scheduling, and ASI is confident that we will maintain the excellent on-time delivery performance that our […]
Lee Steel Corp, a privately owned steel service center in Novi, Michigan, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 13, 2015. In a court filing the company cited “financial difficulties resulting from the present severe collapse in steel prices.” The company listed debt of approximately$10.8 million. The vast majority of the debt owed is […]
The United Steelworkers are challenging US Steel’s claim that it is owed more than $2 billion from its own subsidiary, US Steel Canada. Union workers are concerned that US Steel will give itself creditor preference over the pensions of USW workers at Lake Erie Works and Hamilton Works. “Basically U.S. Steel says it owes itself […]
US Steel Corp. President and CEO Mario Longhi is the recipient of the 2015 AIST Steelmaker of the Year Award. The annual award is presented by the Association for Iron and Steel Technology to notable leaders for their impact on the steel industry. The prestigious honor will be conferred at the AISTech 2015—Iron and Steel […]
Another steel mill bites the bullet and lays off employees as a result of poor market conditions. Alton Steel laid off 88 union workers at its melt shop and bar mill for a period of at least three weeks or more. According to a union member in report by local news source The Telegraph, the […]
US Steel Canada (USSC) has received approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to commence sale of its steel mills in Hamilton and Nanticoke. The April 2, 2015 order for the sale and restructuring/recapitalization process (SARP), as agreed to under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), was described in a press release by USSC […]
Another steel mill bites the bullet and lays off employees as a result of poor market conditions. Alton Steel laid off 88 union workers at its melt shop and bar mill for a period of at least three weeks or more. According to a union member in report by local news source The Telegraph, the […]
Vessels transporting iron ore on the Great Lakes are encountering heavy ice in the Whitefish Bay area. Breaking the ice has been challenging for US and Canadian Coast Guard vessels. Strong winds over the weekend pushed ice from Lake Superior to the bay, covering about 35 square miles. Broken ice plate 24-30 inches thick clogs […]
Randall Metals Corporation, a distributor of prime tin mill products in North America, announced the commissioning of a multi-million dollar, 50,000-pound capacity 72-inch Slitter line at its East Chicago Service Center. The line, designed with Athader, a global coil processing and technology leader, features the latest advancements in processing automation, operator control and display systems, […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, an initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, slid 2.1 percent to 122.3 in March. The initial reports for project planning lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. In general, the trend has been upward for the past 12 months. The index has gained 12 percent in the first […]
Steel buyers in the March 2015 ISM Steel Buyers Survey were a bit more consensus about economic activity in the next six months. In February, respondents were evenly split on whether conditions would go up, remain the same or go down. In the March survey, 46.2 percent expect conditions to remain the same while 30.8 […]
Schnitzer Steel Industries plans a “cost reduction, capacity reduction and productivity initiative” to improve its financial performance by $60 million annually by the end of 2016. In addition, the Auto Parts and Metals Recycling Business will be consolidated into a single division by the end of FY 2015. “In the face of steep declines in […]
Steel import levels continue to increase at ports around the U.S. SMU spoke with several ports and all but one expects imports to grow, not decrease, in the coming months. Out on the West Coast, the Port of Los Angeles is still working through congestion brought about by the recent labor dispute and chassis issues. […]
Global manufacturing continues to expand at a slow and steady pace. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 51.8 from 51.9 in February. Manufacturing growth has been sustained for twenty-eight consecutive months. “The March PMI surveys suggest that the global manufacturing sector continued to make steady progress, with rates of expansion in output and new […]
The final sales tally for US automakers in March was 1,537,820 units according to WardsAuto data, just above the forecast of 1.52 million and exceeding 1.252 million units in February. The increase pushed the SAAR for 2015 to 17.05 million. Fiat Chrysler sales rose in March but Ford and General Motors failed to surpass year […]
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for January showed home price growth slowing from year ago levels. The National Home Price Index registered a 4.5 percent annual gain for the 12 months ending in January 2015 as compared to a 10.5 percent increase in January 2014. Month over month gains for the 10- and 20-city indexes […]
US Steel Canada will be in court on Thursday to settle the terms of sale for its steel mills, Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works. Workers and the provincial government objected to a clause in the proposed plan which would freeze the sale process if any bidder’s offer included settlement of debts owed to it […]
NLMK USA shipped 489,000 tonnes of flat rolled steel products in Q4 2014 compared to 534,000 tonnes in the previous quarter, a drop of 9 percent q/q. Revenue for fourth quarter was $405 million, down from $445 million in Q3. EBITDA for the quarter was $19 million compared to $36 million in Q3 and $30 […]
ArcelorMittal may temporarily idle some of its operations at Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico’s largest steel producer and slab exporter, according to reports by El Diario and BN Americas. “ArcelorMittal Lázaro Cárdenas is considering a temporary idling of certain steel producing operations,” a company spokesman told BN Americas in an emailed statement. “However, we are still in […]
Seaborne freight is picking up slightly primarily due to the South American grain export season, according to the March 25 MID-SHIP Report. The Baltic Dry Index continues to be at a very low level. The BDI registered 448 points on March 25, climbing to 596 as of March 27. The BDI tracks dry-bulk rates based […]
US Steel announced Wednesday it would consolidate its North American Flat-Rolled operations and temporarily idle operations at Granite City, Ill. Layoffs at Granite City will be effective on or after May 28, 2015. Granite City is the primary supplier for US Steel Lone Star Tubular which was issued layoff notices in January due to the […]
A blustery March 25th marked the beginning of the Great Lakes shipping season and the opening of the Soo Locks. The first lake freighter to enter the Locks was the Edwin H. Gott from Great Lakes Fleet Inc. The Gott, named for the former US Steel chairman and CEO, entered the Locks at 11:05 a.m. […]
Three steel industry executives met in Washington D.C. on Thursday at the Congressional Steel Caucus to discuss state of the US steel industry and the impact unfairly traded imports have had on jobs and manufacturing. Revisions to the “material injury” standards were proposed to add language that clearly defines indicators of injury and allows relief […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $804.8 million and a net loss of $25.7 million for the third quarter of FY 2015 ending February 28, 2015. Results included a non-cash impairment charge of $81.6 million related to the Engineered Cabs business and a USD 2.3 million restructuring charge for severance benefits related to the workforce […]
ArcelorMittal Cleveland is planning several maintenance outages over the next few months. A vessel reline at No. 1 basic oxygen furnace (BOF) begins on March 23 and will be completed by the middle of second quarter. The No. 1 steel producing facility will continue operations with one vessel throughout the outage period. The C-5 blast […]
Sales rose for both existing and new homes in February. However, buyers are facing availability issues and escalating pricing. The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million in February from 4.82 million in January. Sales were 4.7 percent higher than a year ago. Tight […]
Nucor Corporation plans to take the battle against construction of Big River Steel another step. Attorneys for Nucor filed a notice that it will appeal the dismissal of its lawsuit against Big River Steel. On February 25, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes ruled that Nucor’s lawsuit was invalid under the citizen lawsuit provision of the […]
Unfairly traded imports are negatively impacting AK Steel earnings in the first quarter of 2015. AK Steel expects a net loss of $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share in the first quarter due to low carbon steel shipment and spot prices as a result of “unexpectedly” high levels of imports. Shipments are expected to decrease […]
Dutch company HPK Engineering has been awarded a 3-year management contract for Serbian steel mill Zelezara Smederevo. After nearly a year of negotiations with the Serbian government US-based Esmark was pushed out of the running for purchase and management of the state-owned steel mill. HPK Engineering pledged to invest $20 million in the plant to […]