Steel

• Drilling slows in US, Canada Dec 27, 2012

  The number of drill rigs running in the United States fell by 25 last week, led by Texas (down 18), while Canadian drilling activity slid by 34 rigs compared with the previous week.

• Reliance scaling back Chatham's Ohio facility Dec 27, 2012

  Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. is scaling back operations at its Chatham Steel Corp. division’s Ohio facility.

• Lisa Jackson quitting EPA leadership Dec 27, 2012

  Lisa P. Jackson has announced plans to step down as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency following President Obama’s State of the Union address in January.

• Stainless steel mills raise most Jan. surcharges Dec 27, 2012

  Domestic stainless steel mills have raised most surcharges for January on the back of higher raw material prices.

• Chinese steel plate export prices rise Dec 27, 2012

  Chinese steel plate export prices rose another $10 per tonne this week as producers raised tags in response to a firm domestic market.

• Iron ore spot prices reach 6-month high in China Dec 27, 2012

  China’s iron ore import market gained momentum Thursday on stronger steel prices and tight supply.

• Don’t expect many M&As in 2013, says GE Capital exec Dec 27, 2012

  The metals industry is ripe for consolidation, but 2013 will not likely be the "breakthrough" year for merger and acquisition activity, according to an executive in GE Capital’s corporate finance division.

• Turkish steel pipe maker plans US mill Dec 27, 2012

  Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Turkey’s largest steel pipe producer, will spend $150 million to build a plant in the United States.

• New Year's holiday notice Dec 27, 2012

  AMM’s offices will be closed Jan. 1 for the New Year holiday, and no issue will be published on Jan. 2. The London Metal Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange also will be closed Jan. 1.

• Klöckner set to exit all Eastern Europe assets Dec 21, 2012

  Klöckner & Co. SE plans to sell its remaining operations in Eastern Europe to local competitors by the end of the first quarter.

• ArcelorMittal scrap buyer, Grow, set to retire Dec 21, 2012

  ArcelorMittal USA Inc. scrap buyer H. Allen Grow plans to retire Jan. 2 and will be replaced by Damian Kosempa, AMM has learned.

• Ports, traders brace for possible ILA strike Dec 21, 2012

  A recent breakdown in negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance Ltd. (USMX) could incite a strike that would affect containerized cargo shipments at ports from Maine to Texas.

• Plate buyers hesitant, await price cues Dec 21, 2012

  Concerns continue to hang over the steel plate market over whether price increases announced by domestic mills will hold in the new year, and sources say that there will be little to support the higher offer levels without the usual seasonal uptick in demand come the new year.

• CarTech hiking Micro-Melt prices Dec 21, 2012

  Carpenter Powder Products, a subsidiary of Carpenter Technology Corp., will raise prices on all bar, plate and finished Micro-Melt powdered metal tool steel products by 7 percent.

• ArcelorMittal to write down Europe operations Dec 21, 2012

  ArcelorMittal SA expects to take a $4.3-billion write-down on its European businesses, the steelmaker and mining company said Friday.

• Met coal import market stable ahead of holidays Dec 21, 2012

  China’s metallurgical coal import market was stable during the week ending Dec. 21, traders told AMM sister publication Steel First.

• Severstal hires ArcelorMittal’s Shivaram Dec 20, 2012

  Severstal North America Inc. has named Sachin Shivaram to the position of general manager of metallics purchasing.

• Inoxum-Outokumpu merger to close Jan. 1 Dec 20, 2012

  Inoxum Group, ThyssenKrupp AG’s stainless arm, and Finnish stainless producer Outokumpu Oyj will begin operating as a merged entity with the start of the new year.

• Sheet prices may face ‘weakness’ in 2013 Dec 20, 2012

  A slowdown in business activity has sparked uncertainty over where flat-rolled prices will land when ordering resumes at the start of January, market players have told AMM.

• Union files grievance over contracted work at Algoma Dec 20, 2012

  United Steelworkers union workers at Essar Steel Algoma Inc.’s Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, steelmaking operations say the company has contracted former union members for unionized work, violating the terms of the USW contract.

• China carries global crude steel production Dec 20, 2012

  Global crude steel output rose 5.1 percent year on year in November on the back of dramatic growth in China, even as steel production in the United States and the European Union faltered.

• MMFX targets Chile to grow its corrosion-resistant rebar Dec 20, 2012

  MMFX Steel Corp. plans to introduce its high-strength, corrosion-resistant reinforcing steel to Chile as the company looks to bolster its presence in South America.

• Turkish pipe exports to hit 1.7M tonnes in 2012 Dec 20, 2012

  Turkish steel pipe exports are expected to reach 1.7 million tonnes in 2012, despite facing a range of anti-dumping measures and investigations in Europe and North America.

• Freight hedging to gain speed: execs Dec 19, 2012

  Steel, scrap and raw materials derivatives are gradually gaining acceptance in a metals industry struggling with unprecedented volatility, and a more widespread use of freight derivatives may be just around the corner, according to executives at a number of the world’s largest brokerage and shipping firms.