Hello Steve,

It’s been a while since I sent you anything. So short, and to the point.

Unreported (can’t find anything thru search engines), Last week Cascade Steel Rolling Mill in McMinnville Oregon suffered a “catastrophic incident” that shut down all smelting abilities. Cascade Steel, a Shnitzer Co., is the largest steel smelter in the west. Just rebar alone, it supplies the 10 western states with estimated 60-75% of rebar. While they are tight lipped, rumor is it was a total loss and cannot be repaired, thus new equipment must be ordered from Europe, and estimates are anywhere from 2 to 6 months of down time. These prices have been jumping all year, you can guess what happened last week and this week. Then Saturday the Everaz Steel Mill/Smelter in Pueblo Colorado exploded, sending 7 to the hospital. This one is in the news. Estimates are they are down for 6 months or longer. We have one Steel Mill/smelter left in the west. (Nucor in Seattle). We were already suffering price hikes and shortages just starting the busy summer season. Now we’re being told the Nucor(seattle) sold out completely this Tuesday for their entire June Rolling/production. And if we wanted rebar in July, to get orders in this week. If we want steel in August, orders must be in next week. And no word as to pricing.

The next closest full service mill is in Arizona (CMC).

Wow. I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years. This is a first.

Jun 5, 2021