Iron Ore Price Decline Hurts U.S. Steel’s Cost Advantage Over Rivals

U.S. Steel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

U.S. Steel Corp.’s cost advantage over competitors from owning its iron ore mines is shrinking as the price of the commodity used to make steel sinks to a four-year low.

Analysts said iron ore’s decline to $70 a metric ton puts pressure on the Downtown-based steelmaker because competitors will benefit from lower raw material costs that U.S. Steel has long enjoyed. That pressure will mount as steel prices follow iron ore prices lower, especially helping competitors with lower production costs such as Nucor Corp., U.S. Steel’s chief rival.

“The U.S. Steel guys are going to have to work real hard to separate the revenue declines from external forces,” said John Tumazos of Very Independent Research of Holm-del, N.J. “Everything they’ve done in the last two years to cut costs was necessary, but everything points to more cost cuts.”

Under CEO Mario Longhi’s leadership, the Downtown-based steelmaker has closed mills, saved $500 million by halting an iron ore expansion project in Keewatin, Minn., relinquished control of its money-losing Canadian unit and saved $495 million under its Carnegie Way initiative to cut costs and return to profitability.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7191828-74/steel-ore-iron#ixzz3JosqYOZp
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U.S. Steel Reorganizes Operating Units

U.S. Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

U.S. Steel Corp. is reorganizing its three operating units to focus on industries the company serves, the latest phase in the Downtown-based company’s Carnegie Way program to cut costs, boost revenue and return to profitability.

As part of the new management structure, U.S. Steel is realigning its North American Flat-Rolled division to focus on five markets: automotive, consumer, industrial, service centers and mining.

“These commercial entities will put our company in a stronger position to be best-in-class in product innovation, customer service and solutions, as well as steel manufacturing,” CEO Mario Longhi said.

The company is renaming its Tubular Products unit Energy Solutions, reflecting its focus on providing steel pipe to the booming oil and gas industry. And its operations in Europe were renamed U.S. Steel European Solutions.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7174309-74/solutions-steel-company#ixzz3JSeCmrZ7
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With $30.7 Million In State Grants, U.S. Steel Promises To Stay In Pennsylvania

English: The U.S. Steel Tower, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, with the new corporate logo of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

United States Steel Corp. is committed to keeping its headquarters in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday as he announced the state was providing $30.7 million in grants for the Fortune 500 company to help rehabilitate some of its plants.

The company has not said publicly that it was looking to relocate from Pennsylvania, but there has been speculation about whether it would move to another site in the region when its lease at U.S. Steel Tower, Downtown, expires in 2017.

Corbett and administration officials acknowledged that they acted to secure a commitment from the company to stay in Pennsylvania based on fears — and not any knowledge — that it would exit the state.

“I think they were considering it,” said Corbett. The governor cited Chicago and Indiana, where U.S. Steel has its largest mill, as places where he thought it might relocate.

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National Tube Works Shuttered In McKeesport

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the last vestige of the old National Tube Works in McKeesport, 117 years of pipemaking came to a quiet end on Friday.

U.S. Steel‘s McKeesport Tubular Operations, an electric resistance weld plant producing standard line pipe, will be “idled indefinitely,” company officials said.

In small groups throughout the day, employees filed out, carrying literal pink slips marking the end of U.S. Steel’s operation there.

Several approached for comment waved off a reporter.

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US Steel Curtails Operations

U.S. Steel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Production halts at U.S. Steel’s two largest mills could dent what is usually a good quarter for the Pittsburgh steelmaker and lead to higher steel prices.

On Wednesday, U.S. Steel informed customers of its Gary, Ind., mill that it was curtailing blast furnace and steelmaking operations at that plant because icy conditions on the Great Lakes are delaying shipments of iron ore from its Minnesota mines. The letter gave no word on how long those delays could last but was hopeful that shipments will improve with warming temperatures.

“It is possible that our ability to timely fill your orders will be temporarily impacted,” the company wrote, adding that it is trying to mitigate any impact of customers.

The announcement follows an incident last week at U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes mill near Detroit that forced the company to halt steel production there. Media reports indicate a large pipe damaged the roof covering one of its steelmaking furnaces.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/US_Steel_curtails_operations.html#jp3C8BItOJ3CLCFG.99

Additional story: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20140405_ap_a889ebee36a145ab8b177a5801db63ef.html

3 Pittsburgh Construction Projects Hang In The Balance in 2014

Mellon Arena in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This year could be a pivotal one in the development of the former Civic Arena site in the lower Hill District, the LTV Coke Works in Hazelwood and the Strip District produce terminal.

Both the arena redevelopment and the Buncher Co.’s plans for the produce terminal not only have the potential to generate drama but could pose the first development-related challenges for Mayor-elect Bill Peduto, who takes office Monday.

Nearly two years after the Civic Arena came down, 2014 could bring the first wave of new development to the site, which is considered among the most valuable pieces of real estate in the region.

But there’s a potential fight brewing.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/01/03/3-city-construction-projects-hang-in-the-balance-in-2014/stories/201401030104#ixzz2pMlbpeNL

Small-Business Owners Trying To Do Part In Revitalizing Clairton

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the past three years, Wandra Sparks has been walking in and out of an old Italian club along Waddell Avenue in downtown Clairton.

She watches as her husband Gus Sparks installs new plumbing and electrical systems or paints warm colors on expansive walls and a cathedral ceiling, and what seemed to be piecemeal improvements in a never-ending struggle now are part of a vision that others can see.

The Sparkses transformed a club that sat vacant for at least a decade into the Ribbon Room.

“It’s a mixture of old and new furnishings,” Wandra Sparks said. “It’s cozy and quaint. There’s such a warm feeling that you don’t even know you’re in a banquet hall.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/4983262-74/clairton-businesses-business#ixzz2jPfS5b5I
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U.S. Steel New CEO Expected To Slash More Costs

U.S. Steel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The $1.8 billion charge U.S. Steel announced Friday is the first of several moves that industry analysts expect new CEO Mario Longhi will make to revitalize a company that has not had a profitable year since 2008.

Mr. Longhi, who took over Sept. 1 for John P. Surma, has been given a mandate to drastically slash costs and increase efficiency. So far, the former Alcoa executive has been largely silent about how he intends to do that. But analysts expect Mr. Longhi to rip a page from the playbook that most new CEOs rely on by getting the bad news out of the way early in his tenure.

Among the measures analysts expect is shutting at least one of the company’s plants. They cite the glut of current capacity as well as new mills being built that are targeting one of U.S. Steel’s most profitable markets: tubular products used in the oil and gas industry.

“We remain in a structurally over-supplied market,” said analyst Gordon Johnson of Axiom Capital Management in New York City. “Supply is going to continue to grow at an unhealthy clip.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2013/10/22/U-S-Steel-new-CEO-expected-to-slash-more-costs/stories/201310220091

Pittsburgh Gets 2 New Tugs, 1st Built In 30 Years

English: Opekiska Lock and Dam on the Monongahela River. The dam is located about seven miles northeast (downriver) from Fairmont, West Virginia, at river mile 115.4. The lock and dam were constructed 1961–64 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve navigation on the Monongahela River, replacing 60-year-old locks 14 and 15. View is downriver to the northeast. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pittsburgh-based marine services company has built two new tugboats, a reminder that the old business of pushing barges along rivers continues even in modern times.

Campbell Transportation christened the Renee Lynn and the Alice Jean at a riverside ceremony last week.  The 65-foot-long, 24-foot-wide boats are the first new major vessels built in Pittsburgh in 30 years, the company said.

The Port of Pittsburgh ranked 21st in the nation in terms of total tonnage in 2011, which means it handled more traffic than ports in Philadelphia, Tampa, Fla., or Seattle, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Technically, the river tugs that push barges are called towboats, while those that push ships in harbors are called tugboats.  But the general public calls them all tugboats.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130704/NEWS03/130709833/pittsburgh-gets-2-new-tugs-1st-built-in-30-years#full_story

U.S. Steel Seeks More Time To Cut Clairton Emissions

POLLUTANTS HANG IN THE AIR ALONG THE MONONGAHELA RIVER AT CLAIRTON, PENNSYLVANIA, 20 MILES SOUTH OF PITTSBURGH. THE… – NARA – 557219 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More than six months after firing up a new battery of coke ovens designed to reduce emissions from one of the region’s most common sources of air quality complaints, U.S. Steel is still trying to bring the new equipment at its Clairton plant into compliance with county emissions requirements.

The Pittsburgh steel producer has asked the Allegheny County Health Department to give the company more time to comply with those standards.

“They have asked to extend the shakedown period,” said Jim Thompson, manager of the department’s air quality program.  “As far as the plant itself, emissions are way down from where they were five years ago.”

The new battery cost $500 million and was designed to enable the plant, a perennial source of air quality complaints, to significantly reduce emissions and meet certain air quality standards months earlier than government officials targeted.  When U.S. Steel held a ceremony at the new battery in January, United Steelworkers union president Leo Gerard hailed it as “the most environmentally sound, emission-reducing coke plant probably anywhere in the world.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/us-steel-seeks-more-time-to-cut-clairton-emissions-692184/#ixzz2Wi8rPcF4

U.S. Steel CEO Surma Says Company Studying Ways To Cut Costs

U.S. Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The same day his company reported a worse-then-expected quarterly loss, U.S. Steel chairman and CEO John P. Surma told shareholders the Pittsburgh steel producer is undertaking a thorough study of how to reduce costs and is considering an iron-related joint venture with Republic Steel‘s plant in Lorain, Ohio.

Lower sales and shipments brought about the loss, Mr. Surma said.

U.S. Steel reported it lost $73 million, or 51 cents per share, versus a loss of $219 million, or $1.52 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales fell 11 percent to $4.6 billion while shipments declined 3 percent to 5.5 million tons.  Pricing was flat compared to fourth quarter levels but below prices in last year’s first quarter.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/us-steel-reports-larger-than-expected-quarterly-loss-685642/#ixzz2Rz4SE7hE

The Pride Of Clairton: A Town Looks To Football Team For Hope Amid Its Struggles

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The doors to the Clairton Bears’ locker room are closed.  A space usually pumped full of booming bass from hip-hop music is silent, except for the young man in the corner wearing a black No. 9 jersey.  Sitting on a bench, he bows his head and cries.

His name is Robert Boatright.  He’s a senior running back and defensive end.  Senior Night festivities are complete, and Boatright still doesn’t know if he’ll play college football.  Now he’s gulping back tears.

Terrish Webb is Boatright’s best friend.  He moves to Boatright and consoles him.  Webb knows where he’ll play next year, at Kent State.  Even with his clarity on a night full of questions, Webb begins to cry, too.  His father was murdered when Terrish was 11, and it hurt hearing his dad’s name announced on Senior Night.

The rest of the seniors join Webb in forming a circle around Boatright, wrapping their arms around each other.  Nobody else can enter.  They’re the protectors of a historic winning streak that weighs on them daily. It’s at 55 now, will be 56 in a few hours, one more box checked until Heinz Field on Nov. 23, when they’ll likely set a state record of 60.  If they lose before then — or any other time, really — they believe they’ll be seen as failures.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/clairton-looks-to-team-for-hope-amid-struggles-663011/#ixzz2D4FiVth5