Reliance Steel and Aluminum

Aluminum inventories with London Metal Exchange (or LME) registered warehouses have declined this year. Aluminum inventories have been on a decline for almost two years.

Primary aluminum and alumina are commodity products. Producers don’t have much control over their pricing. The prices are decided by market dynamics.

To fulfill its iron ore requirements, Nucor has a DRI plant in Trinidad.

Metal service centers account for about one-fifth of U.S. Steel’s total revenues. This makes these centers an important customer segment for the company.

Alcoa is working to expand its capacity in Tennessee. It’s a $275 million investment. Alcoa expects that the facility will be operational by mid-2015.

Steel is a cyclical industry and is dependent on the growth in economic activity. In this series, we’ll learn key facts related to the steel industry and how investors can play the steel industry.

Steel serves as a raw material for various industries. You and I don’t consume the crude steel that’s produced in factories directly.

Iron ore, steel scrap, and coal are three main raw materials for steelmaking. Steelmaking is a raw material–intensive business.

Steel companies’ earnings are sensitive to changes in steel prices. In recent quarters, their earnings have been negatively impacted by falling steel prices.

Demand for OCTG products is expected to be subdued in the coming months. This would continue to put pressure on U.S. Steel’s Tubular segment.

Alcoa was trading at its 52-week low on July 23 and closed at $9.96—breaching the psychologically crucial level of $10 per share for two consecutive days.

According to Nucor “Empowerment isn’t a corporate buzzword—it’s a way of life.”

Alcoa (AA) reported its 1Q 2015 earnings on April 8. It reported net income of $195 million on revenues of $5.8 billion.

Nucor recently started production at its DRI plant in Louisiana.

After trying its hands at various businesses, the company finally consolidated the operations in 2001.

Since the products are similar, the switching costs aren’t very high for buyers.

In 2007, the newly merged ArcelorMittal continued its expansion strategy by announcing 35 transactions worldwide.