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Steel and Stainless Steel Industries

Trudeau takes protectionist tone as pressure grows for Buy Canadian program – by John Ivison (National Post – April 9, 2016)

http://news.nationalpost.com/

Ottawa is coming under increasing pressure to introduce a Buy Canadian program to accompany its multi-billion infrastructure plan that its proponents claim would maximize jobs and growth by freezing out foreign producers.

Justin Trudeau was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Friday, where the issue is of particular concern since the city’s largest employer, Essar Steel Algoma Inc., is under creditor protection and trawling for new owners.

Trudeau was asked if the planned infrastructure blitz offered the 115-year-old Algoma plant the opportunity to win business without being undercut by cheap foreign steel. “We are concerned with the practice of dumping into the Canadian market and are working with different levels of government,” he said. “Building new infrastructure requires new steel. There is a strong future for the steel industry in Canada.”

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Bidder has old-fashioned hopes for U.S. Steel Canada – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – April 4, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

One of the bidders for the assets of U.S. Steel Canada Inc. is proposing to revive the steel industry model of 19th-century tycoon Andrew Carnegie and establish a fully integrated steel maker in Canada that would also own iron ore and coal mines.

Tom Clarke, a Virginia-based environmentalist and health care executive, said he is bidding for U.S. Steel Canada and the Wabush iron mine in Labrador. The bid is being made through his ERP Compliant Fuels LLC, which already owns coal mines in West Virginia.

The Globe and Mail reported last Friday that ERP Compliant is one of the bidders for Essar Steel Algoma Inc. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., but Mr. Clarke said he is less interested in Essar Algoma than he is in U.S. Steel Canada.

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Exclusive: Brazil’s Vale mulls sale of Thyssenkrupp steel venture stake – by TATIANA BAUTZER AND GUILLERMO PARRA-BERNAL (Reuters U.S. – April 1, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO – Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA is finalizing a proposal to sell its 26.87 percent stake in a steel slab plant that cost nearly $10 billion to build to Germany’s Thyssenkrupp for $1 plus the assumption of some debt, a source close to the deal said.

Under the draft plan, which has yet to be approved by Vale’s (VALE5.SA) board, the company would also assume 10 percent of the contingent liabilities of the money-losing venture, CSA Siderúrgica do Atlántico.

The plant, Brazil’s most costly foreign investment project ever, reported 2.6 billion euros in total liabilities at the end of the 2015 fiscal year. Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) is aware that a proposal is underway, and negotiations with Vale are in “their final stages,” a second source said. Both companies declined to comment.

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Bidders eye U.S. Steel Canada-Essar Algoma deal, sources say – by Greg Keenan (Globe and Mail – April 1, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A deal that would combine Essar Steel Algoma Inc. and U.S. Steel Canada Inc. into a single steel maker is emerging as a potential path out of creditor protection for the two companies.

At least three bidders for Essar Algoma are also kicking the tires at U.S. Steel Canada, sources familiar with the restructuring discussions said, believing that putting the two companies together would create a strong steel maker that would flourish in the Canadian and U.S. markets. The combination of the two companies would be capable of producing more than five million tons of steel annually, ranking it fifth-largest among North American based producers.

New York-based industrial restructuring funds KPS Capital Partners LP and Bedrock Industries, as well as ERP Compliant Fuels LLP, a company set up by a Virginia environmentalist and health-care investor, are proposing to unite the two steel makers, sources said.

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STEELIER THAN STEEL: A new kind of metal could make nuclear reactors stronger and last longer – by Akshat Rathi (Quartz.com – March 21 2016)

http://qz.com/

Despite opposition and safety concerns, nuclear power remains a big part of the world’s energy mix—providing about 10% of world’s electricity. And since nuclear reactors typically last 40 years, there are still hundreds of decades-old reactors around the world that must be maintained.

Most of those reactors are made up primarily of some form of stainless steel. But steel is showing its limitations—primarily that it can weaken or become defective over time, and in extreme cases break apart. This is an even bigger concern in newer reactors that run at higher temperatures and have more fast-moving neutrons.

So scientists have been on the hunt for metal alloys that are stronger and can last longer, and researchers in Finland and the US may have found a new category of such alloys.

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Materializing Sheffield: Steel City – An Archaeology of Sheffield’s Industrial Past – by James Symonds

http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/matshef/index.html

On a summer’s day in 1800, King George III was taking the sea airs on the south coast near Brighton. When one of his party announced that they would soon be leaving for Sheffield the King’s face fell and he is reputed to have bellowed:

“Sheffield? Damn’d bad place, Sheffield!”

We will of course never know whether this forcefully expressed opinion was a symptom of the King’s celebrated madness, or was uttered in a moment of lucidity.

The perception that Sheffield is a rather grim northern industrial city, however, persists to this day, at least in the minds of those living further south. Why should this be?

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Labor Protests Multiply in China as Economy Slows, Worrying Leaders – by Javier C. Hernandez (New York Times – March 14, 2016)

http://www.nytimes.com/

GUANGZHOU, China — For nearly seven years, Li Wei rose before dawn for his 10-hour shift at the steel plant, returning home each night soaked in sweat, the clank of heavy machinery still ringing in his ears. But last month, the 31-year-old welder stood outside the plant with hundreds of co-workers, picketing against pay cuts and singing patriotic battle hymns.

Within a week, the authorities declared their strike illegal, threatening fines and imprisonment. The police descended on the plant by the hundreds, tearing down signs and ordering the protesters to go back to work. “I’ve sacrificed my life for this company,” Mr. Li told officers as they sought to disperse the workers. “How can you do this?”

As China’s economy slows after more than two decades of breakneck growth, strikes and labor protests have erupted across the country. Factories, mines and other businesses are withholding wages and benefits, laying off staff or shutting down altogether.

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Diversification needed in steel industry: EDC – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – March 9, 2016)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Any economic development initiative created in Sault Ste. Marie should include some form of plan that includes the steel industry, but the others cannot be forgotten.

Tom Dodds, CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. said the steelmaker is still the most important employer in Sault Ste. Marie and the most important local Gross Domestic Product producer (GDP).

Dodds believes the future of the steelmaker lies in developing its products with a focus on advance manufacturing and value-added products that can help offset the cyclical nature of the steel industry.

Coupled with the development of the Port of Algoma and the push to reduce carbon footprints, Essar Steel Algoma is in the right place to diversify within its own industry.

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Bidders Said to Seek U.S. Steel Canada, Essar Steel Tie-Up – by Scott Deveau and Sandra Mergulhao (Bloomberg News – February 29, 2016)

http://bloombergtv.ca/

Some of the bidders for U.S. Steel Canada Inc., the former unit of U.S. Steel Corp. under creditor protection, are looking at combining its operations with those of Essar Steel Algoma, which is also in creditor protection, according to people familiar with the matter.

Combining the operations of U.S. Steel Canada and Essar Steel Algoma would create the kind of scale and synergies that would allow a new company to compete, the people said.

Those bidders include Bedrock Industries, a New York-based private equity firm focused on mining; the parent company of Essar Steel Algoma, a global fund backed by India’s Essar Capital Ltd.; and ERP Compliant Fuels, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

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Protectionism overstated as threat to China steel exports – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – March 2, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – One of the big questions surrounding China’s embattled steel sector is whether it can continue to ramp up exports or will protectionism around the globe curb one of the few bright spots for mills in the world’s largest producer.

The current market consensus would seem to be leaning toward the view that China will battle to increase steel exports, and may experience declines as more countries put import taxes and other measures in place to protect their domestic industries from the Chinese juggernaut.

So far, India, the United States and Indonesia have imposed some increased duties on steel imports from China, and measures are under consideration in other jurisdictions, including the European Union (EU) and Australia.

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Canada needs to play tough, old-time hockey to protect domestic industries [Steel sector] – by Christian Provenzano (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Christian Provenzano is mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

If international trade were a hockey game, it would be one that is rife with clutching, grabbing and underhanded tactics. As a player, Canada is trying its best to ignore this. We’re committed to playing by a code of politeness that our opponents choose to ignore. It’s time to muscle up, go into the corners again and have “fair trade” re-enter the lexicon alongside “free trade.”

The best way to begin doing this is by modernizing our trade-remedy system. Our current, antiquated system is putting our domestic industries at a competitive disadvantage, with the steel sector being particularly hard hit in recent times.

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China Tries to Tackle Its Commodities Crisis – by Dexter Roberts (Bloomberg News – Feburary 25, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The steel industry suffers from a severe glut—but will resist cuts. China has had an overcapacity problem in its aluminum, chemical, cement, and steel industries for years. Now it’s reaching crisis levels.

“The situation has gone so dramatically bad that action has to happen very soon,” said Jörg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, at a press conference in Beijing on Feb. 22, where a chamber report on excess capacity was released. That report’s conclusion: “The Chinese government’s current role in the economy is part of the problem,” while overcapacity has become “an impediment to the party’s reform agenda.”

Many of the unneeded mills, smelters, and plants were built or expanded after China’s policymakers unleashed cheap credit during the global financial crisis in 2009. The situation in steel is especially dire. China produces more than double the steel of Japan, India, the U.S., and Russia—the four next-largest producers—combined, according to the European Union Chamber of Commerce.

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COLUMN-China should follow Elvis’s advice for more action, less conversation – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – February 24, 2016)

http://uk.reuters.com/

Feb 24 – If you were to pick one thing that would do the most to help embattled commodity producers around the world, dealing with China’s massive over-capacity would probably rank highest.

It’s no secret that China’s surplus capacity in steel, aluminium, cement, flat glass and other intermediate commodities is keeping prices low and threatening the viability of global resource companies, as well as the health of the Chinese economy.

There certainly have been repeated statements from Beijing that the issues are being tackled, and it appears the authorities have realised that excess capacity is a far bigger threat than what it was during the prior boom years, when double-digit economic growth rates masked mounting problems.

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U.S. Steel Canada Said to Draw Interest From ERP, Other Suitors – by Scott Deveau and Sonja Elmquist (Bloomberg News – February 19, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

U.S. Steel Canada Inc., the former unit of U.S. Steel Corp. under creditor protection since 2014, has drawn interest from ERP Compliant Fuels and Essar Steel Algoma Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.

ERP Compliant has submitted a bid for the steel operations in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario, and Essar Steel and several others are expected to submit offers by the Feb. 29 deadline, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The assets are valued at about $1.5 billion, including debt, the people said.

“The sales and investment solicitation process continues under the supervision of the court and it would not be appropriate for U.S. Steel Canada to comment outside of the process,” said Joel Shaffer, a spokesman for the company.

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