- Industry: Metals
- Number of terms: 8616
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
Michelle Applebaum Research is a Chicago-based equity
research consulting firm founded by Michelle Applebaum,
formerly a Managing Director of Salomon Brothers. The
company provides consulting expertise in the area of steel
and steel equities to institutional investors and industry.
A producer of intermediate products that does not also produce primary metal. For example, a rebar (see Reinforcing Bar) fabricator purchases rebar and processes the material to the specifications of a particular construction project.
Industry:Metals
An accounting rule established in 1990 that requires companies to change their accounting for the cost of their retirees’ future nonpension benefits (life insurance and health services). What were once “pay as you go” or “cash basis” expense items were changed to an accrual basis. Such costs are now recognized during the employees’ working years.
When the steel companies shifted to the new accounting rule, most companies charged the “catch-up” to equity in large one-time write-downs as they established the new liabilities on their balance sheets.
Industry:Metals
An accounting rule for deferred taxes that requires companies to explain within their financial statements the difference between the tax expense found on the income statement and the check actually sent to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (This rule superseded FAS 96 and APB 11. )
Some steel companies carry net operating losses (NOLs) on their balance sheets as assets that can be used to offset future taxes. Under the rules of FAS 109, however, a valuation allowance may be recorded to reduce these NOLs unless there is a high probability that they will be used.
Industry:Metals
A process to directly reduce iron ore to metallic iron pellets that can be fed into an electric arc furnace with an equal amount of scrap. This process is designed to bypass the coke oven-blast furnace route to produce hot metal from iron ore. It is also one of several methods that mini-mills might use to reduce their dependence on high-quality scrap inputs (see Direct Reduced Iron and Hot Briquetted Iron).
Industry:Metals
The second-largest class of stainless steel, constituting approximately 25% of stainless production.
Ferritic stainless steels are plain chromium steels with no significant nickel content; the lack of nickel results in lower corrosion resistance than the austenitics (chromium-nickel stainless steels). Ferritics are best suited for general and high-temperature corrosion applications rather than services requiring high strength. They are used in automotive trim and exhaust systems, interior architectural trim, and hot water tanks. Two of the most common grades are type 430 (general-purpose grade for many applications, including decorative ones) and type 409 (low-cost grade well suited to withstanding high temperatures).
Industry:Metals
A metal product commonly used as a raw material feed in steelmaking, to aid various stages of the steelmaking process such as deoxidation, desulfurization, and adding strength. Examples: ferrochrome, ferromanganese, and ferrosilicon.
Industry:Metals
An alloy of iron and chromium with up to 72% chromium. Ferrochrome is commonly used as a raw material in the making of stainless steel.
Industry:Metals
The process reduces iron ore fines with gas in a descending series of fluidized bed reactors. The reduced iron is hot briquetted.
Industry:Metals
