Steel Strip

CHICAGO Mittal Steel USA said Thursday it is idling two blast furnaces indefinitely to bring production capabilities in line with reduced demand for light flat-rolled products.
The company, a unit of Mittal Steel Co. NV, which is in the process of buying Arcelor SA for about $32 billion (€25.2 billion), is idling one blast furnace each [...]

I spotted an intereresting and typically well written article in the Financial Times on the future of the global steel industry. The author Robert Miller considers the recent mergers (notably Mittal / Arcelor) and goes on to predict much further consolidation within the Industry.
What that is likely to mean in the long term for the steel consumer [...]

In September, we have no US transaction price movements to report. Activity over the Summer was slow and values appear to have reached a plateau. However, the market is expected to weather the current quiet period, especially as there are several planned outages at mills between now and the end of the year. Service centre [...]

Shares in Corus rose 13 percent in early trading on Thursday after Indian newspaper reports that Tata Steel Ltd. was in talks to buy the Anglo-Dutch steel maker for up to $10.6 billion.
Corus would not comment on the reports, which also boosted shares in other European steel companies such as Salzgitter AG and ThyssenKrupp AG [...]

Totally off-topic, but it’s my blog so I can!
We are currently shipping steel strip from the Veneto and Milano regions of Italy to the UK. It is a developing business and we are looking for quotes from  hauliers, shipping agents etc. for prices for full loads and groupage for steel coil.
All bidders welcome, Trotter bros. need [...]