Changing Market Pushes U.S. Steel Mills to Upgrades, Additions

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Steel prices are jumping after U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that tariffs on imported steel will be raised from 25% to 50%. Steel producers already are preparing for the changing landscape with upgrades and additions at many of their facilities. Industrial Info is tracking more than $630 million worth of active and proposed projects at steel mills across the U.S. and Canada that are set to kick off in the third quarter, more than half of which is attributed to a pair of plant expansions.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 parent companies for capital-spending projects at steel mills across the U.S. and Canada that are set to begin from July through September, by total investment value.

Vinton Steel LLC, a subsidiary of Kyoei Steel Limited (Osaka, Japan), is preparing for a $255 million expansion of its Long Carbon Steel Minimill in Vinton, Texas, just north of El Paso. The project involves the installation of a 45-ton Consteel Electric Arc Furnace, produced by Tenova SpA (Castellanza, Italy), which will replace a pair of obsolete, 32-Ton electric arc furnaces. Vinton Steel expects the changes will boost the minimill's output from 250,000 to 400,000 tons per year.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

BlueScope Steel Limited (Melbourne, Australia) is preparing for a $130 million expansion at its flat-roll steel minimill in Delta, Ohio, which currently produces 3 million tons per year of recycled steel. A series of upgrades, including an improved cooling setup and downcoiler, is expected to boost capacity to about 3.3 million tons per year. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Other steel producers with third-quarter kickoffs include Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (Cleveland, Ohio), which is preparing for a $10 million upgrade to a coke battery at its Steel Works complex in Burns Harbor, Indiana. The battery produces 1.75 million tons per year of coke for the complex, which produces 5 million tons per year of steel. The project is part of an upgrade program performed every three to five years at Burns Harbor. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Earlier this month, Cleveland-Cliffs canceled plans for a $500 million hydrogen-powered furnace at its steel complex in Middletown, Ohio. Lourenco Goncalves, the chief executive officer of Cleveland-Cliffs, said his company lacked a sufficient supply of clean hydrogen for the project; instead, it will extend the life of its existing, coal-fired blast furnace. Subscribers can learn more about the Middletown complex in a detailed plant profile and about the canceled plans in a project report.

At a recent event hosted by the American Iron and Steel Institute, Goncalves also said the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision not to lower interest rates is reducing demand for steel used in construction and manufacturing, according to MSN.com. A survey last week by Reuters said most economists expect the Fed likely will keep interest rates at the present level for a few more months.

Nucor Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina), another steelmaker with a strong presence in Ohio, recently said it expects to see strong profit growth in all three of its operating groups for the second quarter, amid higher selling prices at its mills. The company is preparing for $10 million in upgrades and equipment additions at its minimill in Marion, Ohio, which produces 400,000 tons per year of steel bars. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of capital-spending projects at steel mills across the U.S. and Canada that are set to kick off in the third quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).