| July 2006 Association News |
AISI Gets Behind Trade, “AISI commends Congressman English for again recognizing the importance of closing loopholes and strengthening trade laws,” says Andrew G. Sharkey, III, president and CEO of AISI in Washington, D.C. “Today’s steel industry is leaner and extremely competitive, and can compete against any industry, as long as we are not also competing with their government.” Among its many provisions, the Trade Law Reform Act of 2006 amends U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws, makes the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis Program permanent and sends the message to U.S. negotiators that U.S. trade laws must not be weakened in the WTO Doha Round Rules “Given the continued erosion of American manufacturing, the significant increase in subsidized capacity abroad and the continuing damage caused by foreign unfair trading practices in this market, the need to preserve and enhance our trade laws has never been greater,” Sharkey says. AISI also applauds the House Resources Committee for passing the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, H.R. 4716, saying the bi-partisan bill addresses the energy reliability and supply concerns of U.S. manufacturers. “AISI commends the House Resources Committee for listening to the American public and approving legislation that will address the nation’s energy supply crisis” Sharkey says. “The manufacturing community has lost jobs directly attributable to high-energy prices. Sound energy policy is imperative to ensure our nation’s long-term energy security.” The act is designed to open more of the outer-continental shelf to drilling for natural gas. States would have the ability to maintain offshore energy production within 100 miles of their coastlines, while enabling the federal government to produce energy in the waters beyond that. Currently, two moratoriums, an executive and federal, keep the U.S. from drilling on the outer shelf. While some have called for a full repeal, the DOER Act would give coastal states the opportunity to maintain control of the waters beyond their shoreline. MSCI: Steel, Aluminum Shipments Inventory levels of both metals, expressed in terms of months of inventory on hand at the end of May, declined in both nations, according to MSCI’s latest Metals Activity Report. U.S. service centers shipped nearly 5.3 million tons of steel products during May, up 15.5 percent from May 2005. That brought year-to-date steel shipments to 24.5 million tons, or 5.6 percent more than during the five-month period last year. At the end of May, steel product inventories stood at nearly 14.3 million tons, down 7.8 percent from a year ago. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 2.7-month supply, down a substantial 20.2 percent from last year and 11.8 percent from the end of April 2006. Shipments of aluminum products totaled 107,400 tons in May, or 10.7 percent higher than in May 2005. Year-to-date shipments of aluminum products totaled 524,900 tons, or 6.7 percent more than in the 2005 period. May month-end aluminum product inventories at U.S. service centers totaled 352,500 tons, down 6.2 percent from May 2005. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 3.3-month supply, a decrease of 15.3 percent from the end of May 2005 and down 7.5 percent from the end of April 2006. Canadian service centers, reversing a year-over-year decline in steel shipments that began in February, shipped 380,100 tons of steel products during May, or 4.7 percent more than May 2005. For the first five months of the year, Canadian steel shipments totaled about 1.8 million tons, a decrease of 1.2 percent from the 2005 period. Steel product inventories in Canada totaled almost 1.2 million tons at the end of May, a decrease of 4.3 percent from the year-ago month. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 3.1-month supply, down 8.6 percent from last year and 6.2 percent lower than the end of April 2006. Canadian shipments of aluminum products totaled 11,100 tons during May, an increase of 12.2 percent from May 2005. Year-to-date aluminum shipments as of the end of May totaled 51,200 tons or 6.6 percent more than the same period last year. Canadian aluminum product inventories at the end of May were 30,500 tons, down 4.6 percent from May 2005. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 2.8-month supply in Canada, a decrease of 4.9 percent from last year and down 11.6 percent from April. CBSA: Fewer Days in April Lead to Shipping Dip Shipments for all copper products declined about 11.0 percent from March’s figures, while the decline in alloy products was 14.2 percent. The total for all products month-to-month showed a decline of 13.5 percent. Compared to April 2005 (when the month had 21 shipping days as opposed to this year’s 20) shipments of all copper and copper alloy products were up 5 percent. For the first four months of the year, compared to the companion period of 2005, the total gain was 10.6 percent. CBSA is asking members to report instances of product substitution resulting from the high price of copper. Reports from the National Association of Home Builders suggest that its members are already looking at lower-cost alternatives to copper-based products in plumbing and wiring applications. Any experiences CBSA members might share would be welcomed anonymously. AISI: U.S. Mills Shipping More Steel Than in 2005 A year-to-year comparison of year-to-date shipments shows the following changes within major market classifications: service centers and distributors, down 3.7 percent; automotive, up 17.3 percent; construction and contractors’ products, up 15.2 percent; oil and gas, up 9.5 percent; machinery, industrial equipment and tools, up 15.9 percent; appliances, utensils and cutlery, down 6.6 percent; containers, packaging and shipping materials, down 3.3 percent; and electrical equipment, up 13.9 percent. AIIS: Steel Imports Make Modest Jump in April May imports were ordered early in 2006 when U.S. prices were substantially higher than in overseas markets. While strong demand and high prices in the U.S. steel market continue, some economic indicators suggest that the pace of economic growth will slow later in the year, potentially setting the stage for lower levels of imports, according to the American Institute for International Steel, Washington, D.C. Total steel imports in May 2006 were 3.8 million tons compared to 3.74 million tons in April 2006, a 1.6 percent increase, and a 43.7 percent increase compared to May 2005. According to year-to-date figures for five months, imports increased 33 percent compared to 2005, or from 14.1 million tons in 2005 to 18.76 million tons in 2006. The data show that semifinished imported products increased by 47.8 percent in May 2006 as compared to May 2005. For the year-to-date period, semifinished imports increased from 2.99 million tons in 2005 to 4.2 million tons in 2006, a 40.3 percent increase, based on preliminary reporting. SSINA: Stainless Imports Dip During First Quarter Total stainless steel imports in first-quarter 2006 were 180,628 tons, a 1 percent decrease compared to first-quarter 2005. U.S. consumption was unchanged at 625,955 tons, while import penetration also was unchanged at 29 percent. SSINA reports the following data comparing year-to-date imports and consumption through March vs. the same three-month period last year:
Imports of total specialty steel (comprising stainless steel, alloy tool steel and electrical steel) in the first quarter of 2006 were 227,396 tons, a 3 percent decrease compared to the 2005 first quarter. U.S. consumption was unchanged at 753,474 tons, while import penetration was 30 percent, a 1 percent decrease. IISI: World Crude Production Ahead of 2005 Pace China is again the largest steel-producing country with production of 35.9 million tons of crude steel in May. This is 19.6 percent higher than in May 2005. Japan produced 9.9 million tons of crude steel, 1.2 percent lower than for the same month last year. India produced 3.5 million tons of crude steel, 13.4 percent higher than in May 2005. In North America, production was at 11.1 million tons, a 4.0 percent increase from May 2005. Production in the United States totaled 8.4 million tons, up 8.3 percent from the same period the previous year. Total crude steel production in the European Union was 17.5 million tons in May. This is 8.7 percent higher than in May 2005. Germany produced 4.0 million tons (up 9.0 percent compared to May 2005), Italy 2.8 million tons (up 7.8 percent), and France 1.8 million tons (up 8.2 percent). Brazil produced 2.5 million tons of crude steel in May. This is 9.0 percent lower than for the same month in 2005. PMA: Metalforming Companies Predict Surveyed on the general economic activity expected over the next three months, 23 percent of participants reported that business conditions will decline (up from 18 percent in May), 58 percent believe conditions will remain the same (compared to 51 percent the previous month) and only 19 percent predict economic activity will increase (down from 31 percent in May). Metalforming companies also expect incoming orders to drop during the next three months. Twenty-eight percent of respondents anticipate a decrease in orders (up from 20 percent in May), only 27 percent predict an increase (down from 35 percent last month) and 45 percent forecast no change (the same percentage reported in May). However, current average daily shipping levels remained stable in June. |
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