Steel

• Trader Jeff Allman exits Trafigura May 14, 2013

  Jeff Allman, a ferrous raw materials trader at Trafigura AG/NEMS (USA) Inc., is no longer with the company, a spokesman confirmed.

• Evraz names Zanieski flat steel, recycling vp May 14, 2013

  Evraz Inc. North America has named John Zanieski executive vice president of the company’s flat products group and recycling, the company said May 14.

• Maruichi appoints Midwest sales chief May 14, 2013

  Maruichi Leavitt Pipe & Tube LLC has appointed Mark Goodkind as Midwest sales manager.

• Debt soars at biggest Chinese mills in qtr. May 14, 2013

  Debt held by China’s 86 largest steelmakers grew 6.3 percent in the first quarter to about 3 trillion yuan ($484 billion), underlining the tough state of market conditions.

• Gerdau’s SAP system begins to find footing May 14, 2013

  Gerdau Long Steel North America has solved most of the shipping delays caused by the first-quarter installation of its new SAP software, although buyers maintain some minor teething pains persist with the new inventory tracking system.

• Japanese steelmakers’ focus turns to intermediate exports May 14, 2013

  Japanese steelmakers are expected to increasingly focus their exports on intermediate products rather than high-grade processed ones, a senior industry executive told AMM sister publication Steel First.

• India's Tata Steel to report $1.6B write-down May 14, 2013

  Indian steelmaker Tata Steel Ltd. will report a $1.6-billion noncash write-down of its assets for its fiscal year ended March 31.

• US raw steel production declines slightly May 14, 2013

  U.S. raw steel output totaled an estimated 1,881,000 net tons last week, down 0.2 percent from 1,884,000 tons the previous week, as mills operated at an average capability utilization rate of 78.5 percent.

• Outokumpu may divest VDM unit May 14, 2013

  Stainless steel producer Outokumpu Oyj is considering divesting its VDM alloy business, which it acquired in its merger with ThyssenKrupp AG’s Inoxum Group, in order to improve profitability.

• Cambelle-Inland to advise China Gerui May 13, 2013

  China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Ltd. has retained Craig T. Bouchard’s Cambelle-Inland as an adviser for its strategic planning and expansion in North America and "around the world," the company said May 13.

• Pro-Tec commissions annealing line May 13, 2013

  U.S. Steel Corp. and Kobe Steel Ltd. commissioned the new continuous annealing line at their Pro-Tec Coating Co. joint venture in Leipsic, Ohio, on May 13.

• Skills gap remains top issue for steel: execs May 13, 2013

  Recruiting quality skilled workers remains a challenge for the steel industry, a number of executives said last week at the Association for Iron and Steel Technology’s AISTech 2013 conference in Pittsburgh.

• Nucor lowers SBQ extra for June May 13, 2013

  Nucor Corp. will lower its raw materials surcharge on special bar quality (SBQ) products by $1.10 per hundredweight ($22 per ton) to $10.50 per cwt ($210 per ton) effective with June 1 shipments, the company said in a May 10 letter to customers.

• Midwest steel plate prices soften slightly May 13, 2013

  Steel plate prices have retreated from their 2013 highs in recent days as a combination of lower scrap prices and difficult end-market business has caused some downward pressure, sources said.

• Universal Stainless' Pa. plant Nadcap certified May 13, 2013

  Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc.’s Bridgeville, Pa., facility has achieved National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (Nadcap) heat-treat accreditation.

• US drill rig tally up; Canada off May 13, 2013

  The number of drill rigs running in the United States increased by five last week, led by Texas (up seven), while Canadian drilling activity slipped by three rigs compared with the previous week.

• China launches probe vs. US, Japan high-temp alloy pipe May 13, 2013

  China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an anti-dumping duty investigation concerning imports of high-temperature alloy steel seamless pipe from the United States, the European Union and Japan.

• Final results issued in review vs. carbon, alloy steel wire rod from Mexico May 13, 2013

  The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of an anti-dumping duty administrative review on carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from Mexico from Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2011.

• Ohio Star Forge to break ground on expansion May 13, 2013

  Ohio Star Forge Co. will break ground May 14 on a $20-million expansion project in Champion Township, Ohio.

• West Coast steel plate hikes eroding May 13, 2013

  A brief uptick in commodity-grade carbon steel plate prices on the West Coast appears to be coming to an end as $60-per-ton domestic hikes announced in the first quarter are eroding, market sources said.

• Los Angeles-area port costs climbing May 13, 2013

  Los Angeles-area ports, which already have the reputation of being among the most expensive U.S. arrival points for imported steel, are due to get a lot more costly, according to local shipping industry executives.

• Patriot Coal's 1st-qtr. net loss widens to $115.9M May 13, 2013

  Bankrupt coal miner Patriot Coal Corp. reported a wider net loss for the first quarter.

• Usiminas out of spot market for flat exports May 13, 2013

  Brazilian flat steel producer Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA (Usiminas) has been sitting out of the spot export market for the last few months due to low prices, according to a senior executive.

• Allied Tube labor talks continue May 13, 2013

  Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. continues to negotiate a new labor contract with unionized workers at its Harvey, Ill., facility.