Arcelormittal News

A ceremony held at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding on Thursday marked the launch of the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in nearly four decades. The 639-foot Mark W. Barker, currently under construction for Ohio-based The Interlake Steamship Company, was floated in the large drydock at the Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard.“Today is truly gratifying for our company to commemorate the first time the completed hull of our new ship has touched water,” said Mark W. Barker…

New legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) will codify the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission on the Great Lakes and increase the icebreaking capacity of the Great Lakes fleet.The Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act aims to increase Great lakes icebreaking capacity, which the lawmakers say will help the businesses and workers that rely on the maritime industry to transport their goods to market and grow the regional economy.“In recent years…

India's steel exports more than doubled between April and July to hit their highest level in at least six years, boosted by a surge of Chinese buying in defiance of tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.Traders said reduced prices had driven the purchases as Indian sellers sought to get rid of a surplus generated by the impact of COVID-19 on domestic demand and generate much-needed income.It was unclear whether the sales broke any trade rules, but the China Iron and Steel Association…

A keel laying ceremony on Tuesday marked the official start of assembly on the first new U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years.During the ceremony held by The Interlake Steamship Company and Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, (FBS) the keel was laid within the shipyard’s large graving dock in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. following more than nine months of engineering and prefabrication work of its modular sections by the FBS team.Though the build project is already well underway…

The U.S. Great Lakes freighter fleet are well-renowned for being a 'mature' group of ships, a point magnified yesterday when Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding started construction on the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier built in more than 35 years. The shipyard and the owner, The Interlake Steamship Company, hosted a ceremonial first-cut-of-steel event Wednesday, August 14, signalling the start of construction.The new River-Class, self-unloading bulk carrier is believed to be the first ship for U.S. Great Lakes service built on the Great Lakes since 1983.

A consortium of 11 European stakeholders including ArcelorMittal, Axens, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) and Total, launched a project to demonstrate an innovative process for capturing CO2 from industrial activities named the DMX project.It is part of a more comprehensive study dedicated to the development of the future European Dunkirk North Sea capture and storage cluster.The “3D” project (for DMXTM Demonstration in Dunkirk) is part of Horizon 2020, the European Union’s research and innovation program.The project has a 19.3 million euro budget over 4 years, including 14.8 million euros in European Union subsidies. Coordinated by IFPEN…

Luxembourgish multinational ArcelorMittal invested 13.3 million euros in two new customised port cranes and the biggest of the two cranes, which has a maximum height of no less than 85 metres, sailed to North Sea Port.By bringing in the two cranes, the company is preparing for the arrival of the New Lock in Terneuzen. By 2022, the first vessel will sail through the larger lock, making Terneuzen, Ghent and the ArcelorMittal Ghent company port accessible to major Capesize seagoing vessels - vessels that have a loading capacity of no less than 120,000 tons."North Sea Port is of course delighted with this investment, which the company is using to ‘anchor’ itself even further into the port…

The European Commission's move to extend its steel import restrictions threatens to force Turkish mills, already buckling under the weight of U.S. tariffs, to cut production further or in some cases close down, sources said.The Commission said on Wednesday it will extend and beef up its existing "safeguard" steel import caps until July 2021 to counter concerns that European Union markets are being flooded with steel no longer being exported to the United States.For Turkey's vast steel sector, the fourth largest contributor to the country's economy, the caps could prove particularly painful as the EU has given it additional "country-specific" quotas.Under the safeguards…

The Interlake Steamship Company said its articulated tug-barge unit (ATB) Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder has departed winter layup on Saturday, February 24, to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, an integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River. A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the 700-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

The 1,004-foot M/V James R. Barker has sailed from the Twin Ports with a new specialized cargo: 60,000 tons of Mustang superflux pellets – the first shipment of its kind since the new pellet production began at Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s United Taconite mine last month. The specialized Mustang pellets, which will be used for the automotive industry and other markets, contain a higher level of calcium added to dolomite and limestone than the standard taconite pellets. Production of Mustang pellets began in May…

The 2017 Great Lakes shipping season begins today when the U.S.-flag tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder departs her winter lay-up berth in Erie, Pa., and sails to Cleveland, Ohio, where she will initiate the shuttle of iron ore from Cleveland Bulk Terminal to the ArcelorMittal steel mill at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The vessel will load approximately 15,000 tons that was mined from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier Bradshaw McKee/St. Marys Conquest on March 1.

Annual traffic for 2016 was over 46.7 MT, an increase of 0.3% compared with 2015. However, the port of Dunkirk did not escape the effects of the economic climate in 2016, which included the technical shutdowns, for maintenance, of the ArcelorMittal steel works blast furnace No. 4 and the Versalis petrochemicals plant, the permanent closure of SRD (Société de la Raffinerie de Dunkerque) and the delayed opening of the LNG terminal. In addition, grain exports have been penalised by a poor harvest since the summer of 2016. General cargoes continued well, with only a slight drop of 1% to a tonnage of 20.3 MT. Cross-Channel traffic had been exceptional in 2015, increasing by 17% to 16.25 MT.

The Chamber of Marine Commerce will assume the assets, liabilities and staff of the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) following a new merger agreement that aims to create a united voice for commercial shipping in Canada and the United States. “We’re uniting two organizations that have successfully promoted the interests of commercial marine shipping for many decades,” said Wayne Smith, Chairman of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “One of our common objectives is to foster a harmonized and efficient regulatory climate throughout the bi-national Great Lakes and St.

While U.S. ports have been busy, overall the beginning of the shipping season has been slower than anticipated. “Although the overall cargo numbers remain down when compared to the same time frame last year, in June we were above the five-year average,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Imports arriving in the Great Lakes Seaway System kept longshoremen busy during the month of June. About 45 ships arrived from 19 different countries with high value cargo like windmill components, machinery, aluminum ingots, steel, sugar, and general cargo.

The Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) announced that the 2016 shipping season on the Great Lakes began on March 2 when the tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 4,600 tons of iron ore at Cleveland Bulk Terminal for delivery to ArcelorMittal Cleveland at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River. That much iron ore will keep the mill in operation for about one day. The vessel could have delivered another 4,100 tons, but the Cuyahoga River is notorious for silting up over the winter, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not dredge the river again until mid-May. The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier G. L. Ostander/Integrity on March 7, LCA said.

The Interlake Steamship Company’s Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder, an articulated tug-barge unit (ATB), departs winter layup today to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, an integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River. A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the combined 711-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

Brazilian mining company Vale SA may reopen its iron ore and coal port, Port of Tubarao, near Vitoria, reports Reuters. Vale, the world's largest iron ore exporter, said the order came from Brazil's Federal Regional Tribunal. The injunction gave Vale, the world's largest iron ore exporter, 60 days to fix water and air pollution issues or face reclosure of the facility, said the lawyer, Sergio Bermudes, of Sergio Bermudes Advogados. The Tubarao port operations have been suspended due to environmental issues, notably the dust that was spreading to neighbouring areas. Tubarao is extremely important for Vale, as Vale exports more than 1/3 of its iron ore production through this port. During the first 9 months of 2015, Vale exported 82.5 million tonnes of iron ore through Tubarao.

A Brazilian federal court on Thursday ordered the suspension of activities at Vale SA's Port of Tubarão because of pollution concerns, halting the world's largest iron ore exporter's ability to ship more than a third of its output. The ruling by the court in Vitoria was made as part of a police investigation at the giant man-made port as Vale comes under increasing pressure over its environmental record in Brazil after a dam burst at a mine run by its Samarco joint venture in October, killing at least 17 people.

LUSCHI announced today it will mobilize its vessel Giovanella to Espírito Santo to assist in the dredging and final disposal of accumulated sediments in the seawater storage canal of ArcelorMittal, one of the world's leading steel and mining companies. The canal has approximately 600 meters long and sedimentation volume in the order of 46,000 m³. The project aims to use a trailing suction hopper dredger, self-propelled, that allows it to suck up the sediments into its own cisterns for disposal in offshore waters, provided by Companhia Docas do Espírito Santo - Codesa.

Miner and commodity trader Glencore has expressed interest in iron deposits in Guinea, a presentation obtained by Reuters shows, although the company said it had not pitched for a stake in Simandou, the country's largest deposit. Glencore is the latest mining major looking to invest in iron ore assets in Guinea. Most interest is focused on Simandou, one of the world's biggest deposits. Any potential investors in Simandou are treading carefully, however. Israeli-owned BSG Resources, which was stripped of its license to develop part of Simandou following a Guinean corruption investigation, is seeking arbitration and has threatened to sue companies that invest in its former license area.

Port of Antwerp has launched breakbulk application for more efficient freight handling. Antwerp has long been the breakbulk port par excellence in Europe. This status finds expression each day anew in a flexible range of high-quality services tailored to the requirements of the customer. Already several years ago the sector pointed out the need to automate the breakbulk process in order to provide customers with even better service. The Antwerp Port Community System (APCS) has now met this requirement with a new breakbulk application that will make today’s copying and re-copying of data a thing of the past. The result is more transparent, faster communication concerning cargoes, enabling them to be handled even more efficiently. How does it work?

GTT, a designer of membrane containment systems for the maritime transportation and storage of LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG), announced that its board of directors met on October 14 and appointed Julien Burdeau as chief operating officer of the company, following the proposal of Philippe Berterottière, chairman of the board and CEO. Burdeau joined GTT in 2013 as vice president, in charge of innovation, a position he will retain. He began his career with the French ministry for industry before he moved into the steelmaking sector in 2002. He gained 11 years of industry experience and held various operational responsibilities at Arcelor then ArcelorMittal and Aperam. From 2009 to 2013, he managed the Aperam group's alloys and specialties division.

The Federal Bering bulk carrier called for the first time at the port of Antwerp on November 16. The recently built Federal Bering is in Antwerp for three days to load a consignment of 20,000 metric tons of steel for ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp and other steel producers. In addition to this steel consignment it will also take on project cargo such as dryers, transformers etc. With a length of 200 meters and a capacity of 34,100 dwt the vessel represents a new generation of carriers for the Canadian shipping company Fednav. It will mainly be operated on the Great Lakes where Fednav is the market leader. Fednav has already ordered 16 of this new generation of lakers, the largest of their kind, all of them due for delivery between now and 2018.