U.S. Steel files complaint over foreign steel imports
U.S. Steel and four other U.S. steelmakers filed trade complaints over imports of cold-rolled steel from China and seven other countries, alleging they were injured by unfairly priced imports that were, in some cases, government-subsidized. They are asking the federal government to impose tariffs of up to 320 percent on the imports. The eight countries shipped more than $1.2 billion of the product to the U.S. last year, the steelmakers said. In addition to China, the complaints target Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Defense renews $1.73 billion contract with CMU
Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute will continue research and development work for the Department of Defense thanks to the extension of a contract that could reach $1.73 billion.
Acrobatiq receives $9.75 million growth round
Carnegie Mellon University education tech spinoff Acrobatiq has received a $9.75 million Series A round from Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Downtown-based Draper Triangle Ventures and New York-based Hearst Ventures.
S&P revises Mylan listing
Standard and Poor’s revised its creditwatch listing on its ratings on Mylan to negative from developing following Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ decision Monday to drop its takeover offer for the Cecil generic drug company. S&P originally placed Mylan on creditwatch with negative implications April 9 after Mylan announced it was planning to buy Perrigo, The ratings service then revised the listing to developing on April 21 on news of higherrated Teva’s offer to buy Mylan.
Earnings
• Range Resources Corp. swung to a loss of $119 million, or 71 cents per share, during the past three months. That's down from net income of $171 million, or $1.04 per share during the second quarter of 2014, the company reported after the market closed Tuesday.
The Texas-based company, which is one of Pennsylvania's top oil and gas producers, reported revenue for the quarter was $248 million, a 68 percent drop from the year ago period.
• Southwestern Energy Co., a Houston-based oil and gas producer with hundreds of wells in the Marcellus Shale, reported a loss of $788 million in the second quarter after posting a profit of $207 million during the same time last year. That amounted to a loss of $2.13 per share for investors, who took home a profit of 59 cents a share during the year-ago quarter. When adjusted for a $1.5 billion asset impairment expense, the company’s loss was $9 million, or a loss of 2 cents per share.
TriState Capital Bank promotes two executives
TriState Capital Bank, Downtown, promoted Brian Fetterolf from chief risk officer to president. Mr. Fetterolf joined the boutique bank in 2009. The bank’s senior vice president for enterprise risk and compliance management, Melvin Washington, was promoted to chief risk officer.
Supervalu considering spinoff
Grocery distributor Supervalu is considering spinning off its Save-ALot stores into a standalone, public company. The Minneapolis-based distributor, which operates a warehouse in New Stanton and supplies the region’s Shop ‘n Save and Foodland stores, said the Save-ALot discount grocery operation might do better on its own.
Volkswagen outsells Toyota in first half worldwide
Volkswagen overtook Toyota in global vehicle sales for JanuaryJune, the first time the German automaker has come out top in the intensely competitive tallies. Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it sold 5.02 million vehicles in the first six months of this year, down 1.5 percent from the same period the previous year, as sales struggled especially in the languishing Japanese market. Volkswagen AG said it sold 5.04 million vehicles during the same period.
Consumer confidence falls in July as outlook dims
The Conference Board says its index of consumer confidence dropped this month on worries about the future. The index fell to 90.9 in July from a revised 99.8 in June. Consumers’ assessment of current conditions fell slightly to 107.4 from 110.3, but their outlook for the future dropped sharply to 79.9 this month from 92.8 in June.
Mead Johnson paying $12M to settle bribery charges
Mead Johnson has agreed to pay $12 million to settle federal civil charges that its Chinese subsidiary bribed hospital professionals to recommend its infant formula to new or expecting mothers who were patients. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Tuesday. The Glenview, Ill., company neither admitted nor denied SEC allegations.