U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry Spruces Up with Maintenance as COVID-19 Drags on Demand

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Metals & Minerals Industry is seeing a little light poking through the dark clouds in its market outlook, as some of its sectors are reporting upticks in demand. Still, the industry as a whole is struggling to emerge from a slowdown spurred, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic. Industrial Info is tracking more than 130 maintenance-related projects at related facilities across the U.S. that are set to kick off before the end of 2020, covering sectors from steel production to smelters.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing maintenance projects in the U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry that are set to begin from October through December, by industry sector.

Steel producers are among those to see steady, if limited, improvement in market conditions over the past few months, after many slashed production and idled plants following the COVID-19 outbreak. But the overall environment remains challenging: Domestic steel production is down 20% this year when compared with last year, according to The Wall Street Journal, as mills operate at slightly more than two-thirds capacity.

Some producers, however, are taking advantage of the shaky market to consolidate and acquire struggling competitors. Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (NYSE:CLF) (Cleveland, Ohio) bolstered its plans to become the largest producer of flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets in North America through its recently announced acquisition of ArcelorMittal S.A.'s (NYSE:MT) (Luxemburg City, Luxemburg) U.S. assets. ArcelorMittal was the second-largest producer of steel in the U.S. last year, behind Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) (Charlotte, North Carolina), but the global leader has seen its fortunes wane as U.S. and European steel production collapsed this year.

ArcelorMittal's 1 million-ton-per-year hot-rolled steel mill in Riverdale, Illinois, is preparing for a routine fourth-quarter maintenance shutdown. It is among those to be acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs, which is leaving only a single plant in Alabama to its Luxemburg-based competitor. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report; September 21, 2020, article - U.S. Steel Manufacturers Carefully Return to Delayed Projects as Demand Inches Up; and September 29, 2020, article - The Iron Giant: Cleveland-Cliffs Strives for Bigger, Better Things with ArcelorMittal USA Acquisition.

Gerdau Ameristeel North America, a subsidiary of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) (São Paulo, Brazil), is preparing for a pair of turnarounds on the rolling mills and melt shop at its steel plant in Midlothian, Texas. Both projects at the 1.8 million-ton-per-year facility are set to wrap up by mid-November. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the rolling mill and melt shop turnarounds.

Foundries and forges account for many of the fourth-quarter maintenance projects in the Metals & Minerals Industry, with products such as automotive die castings and iron castings. They include:

• Ryobi Limited's (Hiroshima, Japan) automotive die castings plant in Shelbyville, Indiana; see project report
• Acme Foundry Incorporated's (Coffeyville, Kansas) gray iron castings foundry in Coffeyville, Kansas; see project report
• Rane Group's (Chennai, India) aluminum die castings plant in Russellville, Kentucky; see project report
• Cast-Rite Corporation's (Gardena, California) aluminum die castings plant in Gardena, California; see project report
• Alcast Company's (Peoria, Illinois) aluminum foundry in Fairfield, Iowa; see project report
• EJ Group Incorporated's (East Jordan, Michigan) iron castings foundry in Elmira, Michigan; see project report

A variety of smelters across the country also are preparing for maintenance. Hydro Extrusion North America, a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro ASA (Oslo, Norway), accounts for several of these projects at facilities across the U.S., including:

• an aluminum extrusions plant in Spanish Fork, Utah; see project report
• an aluminum extrusions plant in Yankton, South Dakota; see project report
• an aluminum extrusions plant in Phoenix, Arizona; see project report
• an aluminum remelt plant in Monett, Missouri; see project report

Nyrstar's (Balen, Belgium) zinc smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee, which produces 122,000 tons per year of zinc metal and 150,000 tons per year of sulfuric acid by-product, expects to finish a maintenance program by mid-November. Jupiter Aluminum Company (Hammond, Indiana) expects to wrap up a shutdown at its aluminum coil facility in Hammond, Indiana, which includes three of its furnaces, by the end of the year. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Nyrstar and Jupiter Aluminum projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.