Steel News

VAI to Supply New EAF for Acerinox

01 February 2005 - Acerinox, Spain’s largest producer of stainless steel, recently awarded Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI) an order for the replacement of the existing No. 2 EAF at their plant in Palmones los Barrios, Spain. The objective of this project is to increase furnace performance to strengthen Acerinox’s leading international position in this field.

Casey Contracted to Sell Equipment for Halyvourgiki

01 February 2005 - Casey Equipment Corp. has been hired as the exclusive sales agent for Halyvourgiki Inc., Greece.

ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni to Shut Down Electrical Steel Production

01 February 2005 - ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni recently revealed its strategic plans for the Terni plant, which call for a phased closure of electrical steel production at the Italian plant by the end of this year. The plan also includes a €90 million investment package for the expansion of stainless steel production over the next two years.

Posco Accelerates 6 Sigma Efforts

01 February 2005 - Posco is working toward automating its innovation activities by quickly but smoothly pursuing 6 Sigma. In support of its efforts, Posco recently invited CEO Phong Vu of SSMI, a 6 Sigma specialist in the U.S., for a consultation, and began a series of meetings with him regarding the overall activities of 6 Sigma on Jan. 24.

Arcelor to Acquire Lucchini Operations in Poland

01 February 2005 - Arcelor SA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Lucchini Group for the acquisition of Lucchini's operations in Poland as well as Lucchini's Polish scrap companies, Silscrap and Crapex.

Unions Break Off Negotiations with ThyssenKrupp on Closures at Terni

01 February 2005 - ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni recently announced its intention to close electrical steel production at its Terni plant. The company indicates that this supervisory board resolution is irreversible.

Arcelor and TKS to Jointly Develop High Manganese Steels

01 February 2005 - Arcelor and ThyssenKrupp Stahl — both leading global suppliers of steel for the automotive industry — have signed a multi-year Research & Development agreement to cooperate in the area of high manganese (TWIP/ Twinning Induced Plasticity) steels.

ULCOS Consortium Targets Further Reduction of Steel Industry CO2 Emissions

01 February 2005 - A consortium of 48 European companies and organizations has entered into an agreement to launch a cooperative research and development initiative to search for new steel production processes that would drastically reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Timken Latrobe to Modify Specialty Steel Pricing Policy

01 February 2005 - Timken Latrobe Steel is changing its pricing policy to ‘price in effect at time of shipment’ to select market segments, effective with shipments on April 1, 2005. Timken Latrobe will temporarily suspend its 50% cancellation charge during the month of February on any planned orders to customers affected by this policy change.

EMJ Reports 3rd Quarter Results

31 January 2005 - Earle M. Jorgensen Co. (EMJ) reported net income of $4.3 million on revenues of $401.7 million for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2004.

Stelco Court Monitor Files 17th Report

31 January 2005 - Stelco Inc.’s court-appointed Monitor has filed its Seventeenth Report regarding the company's Court-supervised restructuring. The Report outlines an extension of Stelco’s credit facilities, progress on the sale of Stelco Plate Co. assets, and simplification of Stelco’s corporate structure.

Nucor Steel Orders New P&H Ladle Crane

28 January 2005 - Nucor Corp. has contracted Morris Material Handling to engineer and build a new CMAA Class F severe duty ladle crane for the company’s Crawfordsville, Ind., facility. The new crane, which Nucor will use to transport ladles of molten steel from the meltshop floor to the continuous caster turret, has become necessary in the face of increasing productivity needs.

Roanoke Electric Announces Sale of Subsidiary Assets

28 January 2005 - Roanoke Electric Steel Corp.’s Resco Steel Products Corp. subsidiary has sold its reinforcing bar assets to Rockingham Steel, Inc., a reinforcing bar fabricator located in Harrisonburg, Va. Terms of the transaction were not announced.

Nucor Reports Record Results for 2004

28 January 2005 - Nucor Corp. announced consolidated net earnings of $341.4 million on net sales of $3.09 billion for the fourth quarter, and consolidated net earnings of $1.12 billion on consolidated net sales of $11.38 billion for the full year 2004. Net earnings per share and average shares outstanding for all periods reflect a two-for-one stock split effective in October 2004.

Grupo Imsa Anticipates Strong 4th Quarter Results

27 January 2005 - Grupo Imsa, SA de CV estimates that its fourth quarter 2004 sales will total 9,596 million pesos, a year-over-year growth of approximately 30%. Grupo Imsa says its EBITDA (operating income plus depreciation and amortization) could reach 1,252 million pesos for the quarter, an 89% increase compared to 2003.

Universal Stainless to Increase Tool Steel Plate Base Price

27 January 2005 - Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc. will increase its base price 4% for all tool steel plate products manufactured at its Bridgeville, Pa., facility.

Timken Names Vice President of Product Innovation

27 January 2005 - The Timken Co. has named Donald J. Remboski Vice President—Product Innovation for the Technology Group at Timken Research in North Canton, Ohio.

AISI Announces New Officers for 2005

27 January 2005 - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Board of Directors has elected United States Steel Corp. President and CEO John P. Surma Jr. to a one-year term as AISI Chairman.

Quanex Sells Piper Impact

27 January 2005 - Quanex Corp. announced the sale of Piper Impact, the company's cold forged impact extrusion business, to Piper Metal Forming Corp., a privately held company.

California Steel Reports Record Results for 2004

26 January 2005 - California Steel Industries, Inc. (CSI) reported net income of $35.1 million on sales of $339.8 million for the fourth quarter, and net income of $109.34 million on sales of $1.250 billion for the full year of 2004, both record results for the company, now in its twentieth year of operations.