The prices for the slabs are not known.
Granite City's slab shipments to CSI have been enabled by competitive rail freight rates, one flat-rolled buyer said on Tuesday December 11.
CSI did not respond to Fastmarkets AMM's requests for comment.
“While we do not discuss our customer relationships and contracts publicly, U.S. Steel has long served customers of all sizes with high-quality steel, including the domestic sale of slabs, which we intend to continue in the future," a U.S. Steel spokesperson said via email on December 14.
One freight element that makes the flow possible is the fact that Granite City can ship slabs via rail on a single Union Pacific rail line to CSI’s Fontana, California, facility for roughly $50-60 per ton - far below typical trucking rates to California from Illinois, which can run more than $100 per ton, this buyer source said.
This lower freight rate is achieved partly because there are no rail switches on...
