With the end of October at hand, it is time for SMU to take another look at shipping conditions around the U.S. Seaborne MID-SHIP is seeing improvement in freight rates and fuel prices and an increase in period chartering activity for seaborne cargo. A surge in coal pricing in the past few weeks has resulted […]
The final three holdouts in the Standard Iron Works v. ArcelorMittal et al. antitrust litigation have come to a settlement. Steel Dynamics, Nucor and SSAB have agreed to settle price-fixing claims for a combined total of $30 million. Steel Dynamics issued an announcement on Tuesday that it will pay $4.6 million in the class action […]
Steel Dynamics reported higher flat rolled prices resulted in an 11 percent increase in earnings in the third quarter. Net earnings were $284 million on net sales of $2.1 billion. Adjusted net income, including a $5 million litigation settlement charge, was $157 million for the quarter. SDI steel production was at 85 percent capacity in […]
Nucor Corporation reported net earnings of $270 million for third quarter, up from 233.8 million in Q2 and 227.1 in Q3 2015. Consolidated net sales in third quarter increased 1 percent to $4.29 billion from the previous quarter and 2 percent from a year ago. Average sales price per ton increased 11 percent QoQ. Tons […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported sales of $2.19 billion, down 0.8 percent from Q2 and down 4.4 percent from Q3 2015. Tons sold were down 4.9 percent from the previous quarter to 1,445,500 tons with average selling price per ton up 4.4 percent, sequentially. Reliance was able to maintain during most of the quarter the […]
The Architecture Billings Index posted two months of decline with September’s score of 48.4 dipping from 49.7 in August. The American Institute of Architects report this is the first time since Summer 2012 that the index posted consecutive months of decline. The new projects inquiry dropped to 59.4 from 61.8 and the design contracts index […]
EVRAZ North America increased third quarter crude steel production 5.7 percent to prepare for scheduled maintenance outages at its Regina and Pueblo mills. Regina will be out for three weeks for upgrades to the steelmaking and rolling mills while Pueblo is scheduled for a two week maintenance outage. Flat rolled production dropped 25.7 percent in […]
Housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,047,000 in September, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The decline was 9 percent below August’s revised estimate and 11.9 percent below the September 2015 rate. Single family housing starts increased from August by 8.1 percent to 783,000. Starts for apartment housing of five […]
Turkish steel producers have filed new antidumping and countervailing duty petitions on hot-rolled coil imports from China, Russia and Ukraine. An AD investigation was previously initiated in January 2015 on HRC imports from China, Japan, France, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia in January 2015 but was terminated by the Turkish Economy Ministry after petitioners withdrew […]
Manufacturing in New York State in October was at its lowest point since May of this year. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported the Empire State Manufacturing Index slipped five points to -6.8 this month. The Index has been in contraction for three consecutive months, dashing economist expectations for growth in the New […]
NLMK USA produced 100,000 tonnes of crude steel and 420,000 tonnes of finished steel in third quarter 2016. Sales volume decreased to 440,000 tonnes (485,000 net tons) from 522,000 tonnes (575,000 net tons) in second quarter, down 15 percent quarter-over-quarter and down 10 percent year-over-year. NLMK attributed the decline in sales to weaker client demand […]
US Steel Canada court monitor Alex Morrison reported sales were good in August, resulting in revenue of CAD $144.6 million. EBITDA increased by $30.7 million from July. Shipments were up 19.7 percent year-over-year to 192,734 tons. The company has been successful in replacing sales to automotive customers that were lost when US Steel cut ties […]
China’s Hebei province is cracking down on steel operations in the region by imposing “special emission restrictions.” Mills in the province have until September 1, 2017 to comply with new air pollution standards for pollution. Failure to do so could result in fines, mandated reduction in output, or total closure. In a notice issued on […]
AIIS urges the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau to use caution in responding to allegations of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties. Interim measures can be devastating to alleged evaders who are later found to be innocent of charges, says AIIS. The press release outlining recommendations by AIIS follows: Falls Church, VA. October 14, […]
The Vietnam steel industry is between the proverbial rock and hard place. U.S. steel manufacturers claim that Vietnamese exporters are party to China’s circumvention of antidumping and countervailing duties on cold rolled steel and are calling for AD duties to match those on China products. Vietnam’s influx of Chinese steel is also a concern for […]
John Ferriola, Chairman, CEO and President of Nucor Corp., has been elected Chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The elections for officers and the 2016 Executive Committee were held at worldsteel’s 50th Annual Conference in Dubai, UAE. Officers for worldsteel will serve for a period of one year. The new officers for 2016/2017 are: […]
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) released its Short Range Outlook for 2016 and 2017. According to the new report, global steel demand will increase by 0.2 percent to 1,501 million tonnes in 2016. Steel demand contracted by 3.0 percent in 2015. The 2017 forecast is for global steel demand to grow 0.5 percent to 1,510 […]
The Dodge Momentum Index dropped 4.3 percent in September to a reading of 129.0 after making gains for five consecutive months. A reduction in institutional planning drove the decline, falling 5.3 percent last month. Planning for commercial construction projects declined 3.6 percent from August. Writes Dodge Analytics: “Even with the recent volatility on a month-to-month […]
The European Union, on Friday, placed provisional tariffs on imports of hot-rolled flat steel and heavy plate steel from China. Steel association Eurofer lodged the antidumping complaint with the European Commission in January on behalf of European steel producers representing 90 percent of the region’s hot-rolled flat rolled steel production. Eurofer alleged in its complaint […]
China’s Commerce Ministry criticized the European Union for antidumping duties imposed Friday on imports of hot rolled steel and plate. The Ministry called the investigation methods unfair. A spokesperson for the Ministry said Chinese steel imports cannot be affecting EUs steel prices because they only account for 5 percent of the European market. “Reckless trade […]
Final approval was received from a federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday to wind down operations at Magnetation’s iron ore plant in Grand Rapids, MN and pellet plant in Reynolds, IN. “Now, our focus shifts to safely shutting down the Pellet Plant and Plant 4 in order to preserve their value for a potential buyer of […]
China is not likely to meet its steel capacity reduction target of 45 million tons this year. According to data from the World Steel Association, steel output in China has fallen only 0.1 percent from January to August with production at 536 million tonnes. Steel production rose 3 percent year-over-year in August and increased 2.6 […]
Essar Steel Algoma is approaching the end of one year of protection under the Canada’s Companies Creditors Arrangement Act. The company entered protection on November 9, 2015. The latest court monitor report by Brian Denega, senior vice principle of Ernst & Young, shows the company maintaining its production and stocking up on iron ore for […]
The Department of Commerce announced adjustment to the antidumping duties assigned to Australia, Korea and Turkey in the hot rolled steel investigation. Regarding the Australia AD orders, Commerce agreed with the Petitioners that there were two ministerial errors. The Department failed to fully adjust BlueScope Steel’s normal value for processing revenue and freight revenue. It, […]
WardsAuto reports total volume for U.S. light vehicle sales in September was 1.428 million units, down 0.7 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for September rebounded to 17.7 million units from August’s total of 16.9 million, but was below the 18 million mark reached in September 2015. Most automotive manufacturers reported […]
Global manufacturing is being hampered by weak trade said IHS Markit. The September JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI, compiled by Markit, rose slightly to 51.0 from 50.8 in August but failed to show any significant growth in the global manufacturing industry. The global report of 28 countries showed only eight reporting deteriorating manufacturing conditions in […]
Construction sector recovery may be at a plateau, says Stephen Sandherr , CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America. The press release from AGC for August construction spending follows: Construction spending held steady in August compared to July but is up nearly five percent for the first eight months of the year compared to […]
The Manufacturing ISM Report on Business showed manufacturing expanding in September after contracting in August. The Institute for Supply Management reports the September PMI was 51.5 percent, up 2.1 percent from the previous month. New orders, production and employment gained 6, 3.2 and 1.4 percentage points, respectively. The index for inventories of raw materials rose […]
Nucor announced Tuesday that it has restructured its natural gas supply agreements to improve access to a long-term supply of natural gas. Nucor purchased 49 percent of Encana’s leasehold interest of 54,000 acres in the South Piceance Basin. In addition, Nucor and Encana have terminated the two Carry and Earning drilling agreements from 2010 and […]
ArcelorMittal USA told a District court last week that the Cleveland steel mill will suffer “catastrophic harm” if the Cuyahoga River shipping channel is not dredged this fall. ArcelorMittal told a U.S. district court that the sediment build-up in the shipping channel has caused cargo ships to lighten their loads resulting in a critically low […]