Steel

• Brazil steelmakers fined after guilty ruling in cartel case Sep 26, 2005

  Brazilian antitrust agency Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade) has found the country's three main long products steelmakers guilty of operating a rebar cartel in 1999.

• Alpha optimistic despite missing export target Sep 26, 2005

  Metallurgical coal producer Alpha Natural Resources Inc. said the impact of labor issues and Hurricane Katrina are among the factors that will negatively impact its fiscal third quarter.

• $5.5M welded steel order booked for pipeline project Sep 23, 2005

  Northwest Pipe Co. was awarded a contract to supply $5.5 million worth of welded steel pipe to contractor High Country Pipeline, Penrose, Colo.

• NW Pipe warns on 3d-qtr. earnings as storms, prices take toll Sep 23, 2005

  Northwest Pipe Co., buffeted by the effects of one hurricane and higher steel prices, was battening down the hatches Friday in anticipation of a second storm.

• Gallatin Steel and its workers raise $77,800 toward Katrina relief effort Sep 23, 2005

  Employees of Gallatin Steel Co., Ghent, Ky., have pitched in to help victims of Hurricane Katrina with a donation of $77,800 to the American Red Cross.

• Dietrich upgrading to UltraSteel metal framing technology Sep 23, 2005

  Dietrich Metal Framing, a unit of Worthington Industries Inc., Columbus, Ohio, is rolling out a new technology to improve strength, fire performance, acoustical performance and construction speed of strip steel framing products.

• Universal adds natural gas charge Sep 23, 2005

  Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc., Bridgeville, Pa., plans to institute an energy surcharge effective Oct. 1.

• Steel rattled by call to nix import duties Sep 23, 2005

  Efforts to suspend anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain steel imports are a misguided attempt at aiding the Gulf Coast reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to North American steel producers and the trade associations representing them.

• A backlash over the lack of a energy plan and ocean of surcharges Sep 23, 2005

  Energy consumers in Canada are calling for the formation of a national energy policy as signs develop that North American steel customers are fighting back against the energy portion of raw materials surcharges being tacked on to their bills by steel producers.

• Timken says auto cuts will shut S. Carolina plant within 2 years Sep 22, 2005

  Timken Co., Canton, Ohio, will close its Clinton, S.C., plant within two years as part of a restructuring effort in its automotive products group.

• Stelco board showed no bias during restructuring review Sep 22, 2005

  A former Ontario judge appointed to review actions by Stelco Inc.'s board in the development of the company's restructuring plan said the directors acted without bias and were not involved in a conflict of interest.

• Ludlum ups silicon electrical steels Sep 22, 2005

  Allegheny Ludlum Corp. plans to raise its surcharge on silicon electrical steels by $30 a ton to $190 ($9.50 per hundredweight) effective with Oct. 1 shipments.

• Nufab Rebar assesses the cost of lost output at Louisiana plant Sep 22, 2005

  Nufab Rebar LLC reopened its reinforcing bar fabrication operation in Slidell, La., just northeast of New Orleans, this week after being shut for nearly three weeks due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.

• Baron sets Oct. cold-finish bar hike Sep 22, 2005

  Baron Drawn Steel Corp. has increased its scrap surcharge on all special bar quality cold-finished bar by $50 a ton ($2.50 per hundredweight) to $115 a ton ($5.75 cwt), effective with Oct. 1 shipments.

• Mittal's Georgetown plant hit by 2 fires; no damage Sep 22, 2005

  Two separate fires broke out at Mittal Steel USA's Georgetown, S.C., wire rod mill, but no damage was sustained and no-one was injured, the company said.

• Valbruna donates to Katrina relief efforts Sep 22, 2005

  Valbruna Slater Stainless Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., and parent Acciaierie Valbruna Srl, Vicenza, Italy, have donated $150,000 to Katrina relief efforts. The companies donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross, half to the group's national disaster relief fund and half to its Northeast Indiana Chapter.

• Ohio stainless forger agrees to pay penalty Sep 22, 2005

  An Ohio-based stainless steel forging company has agreed to pay a $14,062 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of Ohio's emergency planning and community right-to-know reporting requirements.

• Final attempt to rule on alleged Brazilian rebar cartel Sep 22, 2005

  Grupo Gerdau SA will continue to pursue legal action to prevent antitrust watchdog Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade) from ruling on the steelmaker's alleged involvement in a Brazilian rebar cartel.

• Timken raising bar, seamless tube Sep 21, 2005

  Timken Co., Canton, Ohio, late Tuesday announced November price increases for both steel bar and seamless mechanical tubing, in addition to implementing a natural gas surcharge.

• Tarpon in deal to refinance, secure funds for buy Sep 21, 2005

  Tarpon Industries Inc. has signed a letter of engagement with Jefferies & Co. Inc., New York, for a possible refinancing of its existing debt and debt financing for the acquisition of Midwest Tube Mills Inc.

• Met-Chem gets Venezuela ore concentrator pact Sep 21, 2005

  Met-Chem Canada Inc., Montreal, has been awarded a contract by Duro Felguera Plantas Industriales SA, La Felguera, Spain, to carry out the detailed engineering for a new iron ore concentrator for CVG Ferrominera Orinoco CA, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.

• Worthington Industries' earnings, sales weaken as steel prices sour Sep 21, 2005

  Metal processing company Worthington Industries Inc., Columbus, Ohio, said its fiscal first-quarter net income fell 50.9 percent to $28.4 million from last year's record $57.9 million on sales that slid 9.8 percent to $694.1 million.

• Stelco upbeat on plan as province helps bridge pension gap Sep 21, 2005

  The restructuring plan submitted by Stelco Inc. Hamilton, Ontario, hasn't yet received approval from creditors, but company executives believe it stands a strong chance of moving forward.

• ITC keeps duties on pipe products from 3 countries Sep 21, 2005

  The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has decided to maintain existing anti-dumping duty orders on stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.