Steelmakers see infrastructure plan as savior

The U.S. steel industry, having gone from boom to bust in a matter of months, is now counting on a massive government economic rescue plan heavily weighted toward infrastructure spending to help recover, according an article in Saturday's New York Times.

   Steel would be a key component for repairing or building bridges, school buildings, water systems, mass transit, hospitals, the electric grid and other foundations of economic activity. And the steel industry is lobbying Barack Obama’s transition team for big projects that would require a lot of steel.

   “What we are asking is that our government deal with the worst economic slowdown in our lifetime through a recovery program that has in every provision a ‘buy America’ clause,” Daniel R. DiMicco, chairman and chief executive of giant steelmaker Nucor Corp., told the paper.

   U.S. steel production fell 51.4 percent to 1.02 million net tons in the week ending Dec. 20 compared to the same week in 2007, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. And steel production was down 12.5 percent week-over-week. Year-to-date production is off 5.6 percent, largely due to a strong first half of the year for the steel industry.

   In response to weakened demand, steel mills have cut back operations, idled plants and furloughed workers.

   President-elect Obama is scheduled to meet on Monday with congressional leaders to discuss the shape and size of the economic stimulus plan. Obama advisors have said they are seeking a plan for up to $775 billion or more.

Source: American Shipper